One pot sausage recipes are a savory idea for weeknights. There’s less mess and all of the flavors build upon one another. Learn more about this one pot pasta recipe.
How to Make One Pot Pasta
The hallmark of a one-pot pasta recipe is adding enough liquid—but not too much—to both cook the pasta and create the sauce from the starch of the pasta. The magic ratio is 4 1/4 cups of liquid to 8 ounces of orecchiete.
Cooking the Dish
We like using a Dutch oven for this recipe as it conducts heat evenly. For this recipe, you’ll start by cooking the sausage., browning it and breaking it up. This also adds that beautiful savory pork flavor to the rest of the dish.
You’ll cook the onion with the beans until the onion is soft and lightly browned. Then, stir in the garlic, fennel seeds, oregano, and red chile flakes. You’ll know it’s time to move to the next step once they’re fragrant.
For the recipe, we use broth and water—the broth bolsters the sauce. Once boiling, you’ll stir in figs, pasta, and half of the kale. Cover and reduce the heat, simmering the pasta for a few minutes.
A trick here is to place the remaining kale on top of the pasta. You’ll cook the dish for a few minutes more, until the kale is just tender.
Stir the kale into the orecchiette until incorporated. Simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until most liquid is absorbed and orecchiette is al dente.
How to Serve
Off-heat, stir in grated Pecorino to thicken the sauce and the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with extra Pecorino.
Make It Your Own: One Pot Sausage Recipes
The recipe below uses spicy Italian sausage but if you like less heat in your food, swap in Mild Italian sausage. Save this to your other favorite one pot sausage recipes collection.
One-Pot Sausage, Kale, California Figs and White Bean Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 pound hot Italian sausage casings removed, sausage broken into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 onion chopped fine
- 1 can cannellini beans rinsed (15-ounce)
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 1 cup Orchard Choice or Sun-Maid California Figs stemmed and quartered
- 8 ounces orecchiette 2 1/4 cups
- 12 ounces kale stemmed and chopped
- 1 ounce Pecorino Romano cheese grated (1/2 cup), plus extra for serving
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add sausage and cook until lightly browned all over, 5 to 7 minutes. Add onion and beans and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, fennel seeds, oregano, and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Stir in broth and water and bring to boil. Stir in figs, orecchiette and half of kale. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 4 minutes. Without stirring, place remaining kale on top of orecchiette. Cover and continue to cook until kale is just tender, about 4 minutes longer.
- Stir to incorporate kale into orecchiette. Simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until most liquid is absorbed and orecchiette is al dente, 3 to 6 minutes. Off heat, stir in Pecorino and remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with extra Pecorino.
Notes
Valley Fig Growers is a proud sponsor of Cook’s Country TV.
