Tuscan Kale and Sausage Ragu with Butternut Squash Fettuccine
Try this Tuscan Kale and Sausage Ragu with Butternut Squash Fettuccine recipe.
Try this Tuscan Kale and Sausage Ragu with Butternut Squash Fettuccine recipe.
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 easpoon red pepper flakes
- olive oil to drizzle
- 1 small sweet onion diced
- 1.5 tablespoons tomato paste
- .75 pound spicy italian sausage decased and crumbled
- 1 (28 ounce) cans tuttorosso peeled plum tomatoes – no salt added
- 1/4 cup red wine (or beef broth)
- 4 cups chopped tuscan kale
- 1 cup canned white beans drained and rinsed
- 2 medium butternut squash
- fresh basil to garnish
- parmesan cheese to garnish
- Carbohydrate 80.5002647621982 g
- Cholesterol 64.636912725 mg
- Fat 27.3955292226221 g
- Fiber 13.4867918456261 g
- Protein 19.3347095106692 g
- Saturated Fat 9.72864419354667 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (790g)
- Sodium 677.674210355269 mg
- Sugar 67.0134729165721 g
- Trans Fat 1.70511729117331 g
- Calories 606 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Place a large pot over medium heat and add in the sausage. Crumble the sausage further with a wooden spoon and cook until browned, about 10 minutes. Then, add in the onions, garlic and red pepper flakes and let cook for 2-3 minutes or until onions turn translucent.
- Using your hands, crush the tomatoes over the pot. Using a wooden spoon, further crush the tomatoes so that no large chunks remain. Then, add in the tomato paste, wine (or broth), basil, oregano, bay leaf and season with salt and pepper. Raise the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low to a simmer. Cook for 30-35 minutes or until reduced by half and then stir in the kale and beans. Cook for another 5 minutes or until kale wilts and sauce is thick like a ragu.
- Peel and spiralize the butternut squash, using Blade B. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay out the butternut squash noodles.
- Drizzle with olive oil and massage it into the squash with your hands.
- Once you add the kale to the ragu, season with salt and pepper and roast for 8-10 minutes or until cooked to al dente.
- Divide the butternut squash noodles into bowls and top with the ragu, making sure to discard the bay leaf. Garnish with basil and Parmesan cheese.
Crushing whole canned peeled plums by hand directly into the pan yields a better texture than using puréed canned varieties, preventing a watery sauce. Browning the spicy Italian sausage first requires ten minutes at medium heat to render the fat, which then sweats the diced sweet onions and minced garlic without burning the aromatics. Tomato paste must cook alongside those aromatics for a minute to caramelize its sugars before the red wine or broth deglazes the pan bottom. Whole plum tomatoes contain high moisture content, meaning the simmering stage takes thirty to thirty-five minutes to reduce the liquid by half. Spiralizing butternut squash produces a vegetable noodle that behaves differently than wheat pasta. Massaging olive oil into the squash strands on a parchment-lined baking sheet ensures even coating before they enter a four-hundred-degree oven. Roasting takes eight to ten minutes to achieve an al dente bite without releasing excess water that would dilute the clinging ragu. White beans and chopped Tuscan kale fold in during the final five minutes of sauce reduction so the greens maintain structural integrity instead of turning to mush. Cooks modifying this dish for dietary preferences can easily swap the pork sausage for turkey or substitute vegetable broth for the wine without altering the reduction timeline. Discarding the bay leaf before plating prevents a bitter note from overpowering the fresh basil and parmesan garnishes.
