linguine with chicken sausage (linguine con salsiccia di pollo)
June 4, 2013 § 40 Comments
Pasta with a parsley pesto is sufficient for a midweek dinner. However, with a strapping young lad at the dinner table I decided to add chicken sausage to give it a little substance. Dinner does not get any easier than this. Dinner is ready in the time it takes to boil the water and cook the pasta. For us, a one dish meal.
I n g r e d i e n t s
- 1 pound of good quality linguine
- 1 pound of italian chicken sausage
- 1 large bunch of parsley
- 4 scallions
- 5 cloves of garlic
- 3/4 cup of freshly grated pecorino romano
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- a shake or two of red pepper flakes
Place a large pot of water on the stove over high heat. Cook the sausage and prepare the pesto while you are waiting for the water to boil.
If the sausage is in casings, remove the casing and break up the ground chicken in a skillet over medium high heat. Add 3 smashed garlic cloves to the skillet. Continue to cook until nice and brown. Lower heat to keep warm.
For the parsley pesto, place all ingredients in a food processor and whirl until blended. If you are not using a food processor, finely chop the parsley, scallions and garlic, place in a bowl with pecorino, olive oil and pepper flakes and stir well.
Once your water is at a roaring boil add a tablespoon of coarse grain salt and drop your pasta in. Cook until al dente, linguine cooking time is approximately 9 minutes.
Drain pasta, return it to the pan (off the heat) and toss with pesto and sausage.
Divide into serving bowls and serve with freshly grated pecorino.
Serves 4
buon appetite.
COTTAGE GROVE HOUSE 
This would be fab with crab meat too!
OH my! You are right! I’ll be looking for it on your blog! :)
Mmmm, I can already smell the Pecorino, garlic, parsley…. *drooling*
:) Don’t you just love pecorino?!
I would sell an organ for Pecorino ;-)
ahahha! that’s funny! Just last night told my husband I’d give up my pinky for one of those “big green egg grills”! Do you have one? Have you seen them? So, we cooks graciously give up our own members for food! :)
Oooh, so funny! Two pinkies + an organ for a Green Egg! True chefs we are, completely dismembered and we would still be cooking :-)
Nothin’ wrong with easy! Simple so that every flavor shines through. Yum. And I love your place setting. Great food, great shot!
Thanks Karen! I found this gorgeous pottery at the Goodwill a few years back! I was smitten with them. Well, I still am…
What a simple yet fabulous meal. I never thought of breaking up chicken sausage meat. Clever! I just made chicken meatballs spaghetti last night. Not something you would do for a midweek dinner after work when there’s a hungry teenager waiting at the table. :-)
Hi Dolly! I imagine your chicken meatballs were so good. I love spaghetti and meatballs and when I have a few hours to put dinner together it is one of the first ideas which come to mind. I have never made chicken meatballs though. Turkey, yes. I think I would like chicken better than turkey. I’ll use chicken next time. Hope your are having a good week! :)
Nothing better than pesto with pasta!
I couldn’t agree more. I love pesto! I even make it for the pasta when I cook a red sauce! Incorporate both. :)
Yum! We are big on pesto made with many different herb/nut combos, but never teamed any of then with sausage. Thanks for the inspiration, it looks delicious.
Me too! Your are welcome, hope your use sausage with your next pesto pasta! You’ll love it.
I’d be happy with the parsley pesto! Yet, I keep reading about Italian sausages, something I’ve never had. They’re not for sale here, unless you’re lucky enough to have an Italian deli nearby. Which I don’t. Shame!
I’m so curious what town you reside! It’s ok to be curious though…no need to share. :) We buy them in the regular markets over here. One of my favorite ingredient in an italian sausage is fennel seeds. Always nice to find one here and there while chewing.
Too bad I have given up on pasta.This is tasty stuff!
Oh…gluten free?
Wheat free (since Dec and I love it)! I know it’s possible to get wheat free pasta and stuff but I like to test my will power! This looks very tasty tho.
This looks really, really tasty.
Thanks for coming by for a visit!
Thank you too! So nice to find your blog.
Just tonight I prepared a similar dinner, using homemade sausage in place of the chicken sausage that you used. It was a great dinner and I’m sure yours was every bit as good, if not better. Yum!
Yummmm.. Homemade sausage. My brother makes homemade elk sausage and it is fabulous! We are in synch with our dinners, aren’t we?
you wouldn’t believe if I tell you that I am thinking of making this for dinner tonight. looking at your delicious photo, it’s now a must do. :-)
I hope you made it! You will not be disappointed!
I just love parsley!! Never thought of making pesto I love this!! I am making this tonight.
Really? I would love your feedback if you do. I love parsley pesto and I think I may like it a bit more than basil pesto. I have even made cilantro pesto too, which is really good.
Delicious and with a large bunch of parsley and pecorino romano! I actually finished my huge bunch of parsley this time. Thanks for sharing, my next pasta dish will have lots of parsley as well!!
Thank you Liz!
Yum! You already know how much I love pasta & Italy, so when I popped over to your blog (from the comment you left on mine), I fell in love with this recipe. Haven’t had linguine in a good long while…might be time for me to make some one day!
We both share a love of pasta & Italy. Sometimes I think I should rename my blog something like…cottage grove trattoria! :)
Love pasta and this looks beautiful. On the shopping/cooking list for this week. thanks!
Oh great! Thank you so much. It is a winner of a recipe!
I made this tonight for dinner (Larry’s still washing up the dishes!) and it was as delicious as it looks in your photo. so garlicky. I used basil in place of the parsley because it’s growing in the yard. thanks again for the great recipe!
You just made my day! I am so happy you enjoyed it! Basil, parsley or cilantro (in my opinion) makes for a perfect pesto. Thank you for letting me know! :)
My kinda breakfast supper…
i would like to add some chopped kalamata too to the dish…..
That does sound like a great add in! Thanks!
We love pasta with pesto in our home. Actually, we love pasta with anything in our home! This dish looks great and would make hubby quite happy… if I make JUST pasta, his first question is always, “Where’s the meat?”. This would be perfect!
That is so funny! I get the same remark from my 15 year old son! Always….”where’s the meat”. (I have a tendency to cook without meat). Ha! The chicken italian sausage was fabulous in this! I love fennel seeds in my sausage.