Do you ever wonder what to do with broken or leftover lasagna noodles? My broken pasta with sausage, kale and mushrooms is a recipe that I began making years ago that uses up those leftover boxes of lasagna noodles and it is so good!
Honestly, what is not to love about sausage, kale and mushrooms with large pieces of pasta to go with them. The lasagna noodles in this dish add that smooth buttery texture to each bite almost reminding me of egg noodles! It is so good! I actually now buy whole boxes of lasagna noodles just to make this since I sometimes don’t have the patience to wait until I have enough leftover noodles in the pantry.
Give this dish a try and I am sure you will love it!
Broken Noodles with Sausage, Kale and Mushrooms
A fun and delicious way to use up those leftover lasagna noodles in your pantry
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 1 package of lasagna noodles broken into chunky pieces do not use the pre-cooked lasagna noodles
- 4 Italian sausage links with the casings removed
- 1 bunch of kale leaves with the leafy part cut off of the stems and then cut thin (discard stems since they are tough)
- 1 small pint of baby bella mushrooms or button mushrooms
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 3 Tbs. butter
- 4 tbsp of olive oil
- 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar
- big pinch of coarse salt
- 1/2 tsp of dried thyme or 1 1/2 tsp of fresh thyme
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
- In a large heavy bottom saute pan, add 2 tbsp of your olive oil and heat.
- When pan is heated add your sausage and brown them while breaking them up into little bits.
- Once browned, remove the sausage from the pan on to a plate until later.
- With the same pan that you cooked the sausages in, add your mushrooms and saute for about 4- 5 minutes letting them soak up all of those yummy drippings from the sausage, about 4-5 minutes.
- Now add your kale and saute for about 5-6 minutes until you start to see the kale soften and break down.
- Once the kale cooks down, go ahead and add your garlic and saute for another couple minutes so the garlic can release it’s flavor but not burn.
- Once this is all cooked remove the veggies from the pan, add it to the plate with your sausage and return the pan to the burner.
- Melt your butter on medium heat.
- Once butter is melted, add your balsamic vinegar and thyme and with a whisk or with a fork stir it around and scrape up all of the yummy brown bits in the pan. Do this for about 3-5 minutes or until you see the balsamic reducing being careful to stand back a bit since cooking vinegar can clear those sinuses 🙂 You want to cook out the acidity of the balsamic a bit and bring out it’s sweetness.
- Now go ahead and add back to the pan the sausage and veggies and toss it well so all of the sauce coats it evenly. Cover and turn heat to lowest setting to keep warm.
- Now your pasta water should be boiling so add your broken lasagna noodles and cook until al dente from your pasta’s directions.
- When they are nice and al dente, take a mug and scoop out some of that pasta water (in case your sauce needs thinning later) and then drain your pasta.
- Add your pasta back into the pasta pot after it’s drained and add the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil so your noodles do not stick!
- Now add your sausage, veggies and sauce to that pot too, tossing it all together. If your pasta looks to dry just add a 1/4 cup or so of your reserved pasta water.
- To serve:
- Pour your pasta into a large serving platter making sure to get all of the bits out of the pot. Serve it with some freshly grated parmesan on top and at the table and enjoy!
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