Red Lentil Pasta, Kale and Turkey Sausage
Do you ever have one of those nights where you are just so lazy that you don’t feel like making whatever you were planning on making? Well, this was the result of one of those nights. I was initially planning on making pizzas and just the thought of having to make the dough and chop all the veggies was just toooo much. I had already made my marinara sauce in preparation for pizza night (lol) so I grabbed a box of red lentil pasta that I had grabbed on a whim at the store and the kale that was rapidly going bad in our fridge and decided we were having pasta with turkey sausage and kale. I was fully expecting David to be super salty with this change in the menu but he was pleasantly surprised to find that the dish was pretttty darn good.
Red lentil pasta, kale and turkey sausage
a super easy pasta dish with kale, turkey sausage and red lentil pasta in a red sauce
Ingredients
- 1 box red lentil pasta
- 4 cups kale
- 1 lb turkey sausage
- 1/4 cup onion finely diced
- 1 tsp garlic minced
- salt and pepper to taste
Marinara Sauce
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1/4 cup onion finely diced
- 1 tsp garlic
- 1/4 cup basil
- 1 tbsp parsley
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
Instructions
- make pasta following the directions on the box – cook al dente
- make marinara: in a sauce pan, saute onions in ~1 tsp olive oil and season with a pinch of salt and pepper
- when onions are translucent, add garlic and saute for ~ 1 minute, until garlic is aromatic
- add crushed tomatoes, lemon juice – cook on medium heat for about 10 minutes until sauce thickens slightly
- add herbs and cook for ~ 5 more minutes, turn off heat and set aside
- in a large skillet or braiser, saute onions in ~1 tsp of olive oil until translucent
- when onions are translucent, add garlic and cook ~1 minute until aromatic
- add turkey sausage and cook, breaking up into small pieces
- add kale and saute – you may need to add a little more olive oil at this point and you may need to add the kale in batches, depending on the size of your pan (don't worry, the kale will cook down significantly!)
- when kale has been cooked down, add the cooked pasta to the dish, mixing together well
- finally add the sauce to the mixture and mix together, let cook for ~ 5 minutes – stirring so nothing burns on the bottom
- remove from heat and serve!
