The sweetness of the sun dried tomatoes constrasts nicely with the bitterness of the greens. This delicious dish has strong sophisticated flavours but only takes 15 minutes to make. Not for people who dont like to eat their greens!
Ingredients for 2
220g (8 ounces) of wholewheat fusilli
spring greens, about 4 or 5 large leaves
olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
a teaspoon of capers (optional)
a teaspoon of dried oregano
a teaspoon of dried red chillis
4 or so sun dried tomatoes (I try to find the ones in olive oil rather than the ones in sunflower oil)
a handful of bitter black olives
the juice of half a lemon
salt and pepper
4 good vegan sausages
2 sticks of chopped celery and salad leaves to serve. I used radicchio and lambs lettuce for the photo
Method
Put a large pan of salted water on to boil for the pasta
Heat some oil in a small frying pan for the sausages and start to cook these (read the instructions but most seem to take 10 minutes)
When the water has boiled drop in the fusilli and cook for about 9 minutes
Wash and remove the tougher pieces of stalk on the spring greens and put another larger frying pan or wok on a low to medium heat with a little olive oil. Roll the greens up and chop once lengthways and then across in once inch (2 and a 1/2 cm) strips. Put the greens in the heated oil and stir to coat
Slice the garlic cloves lengthways and then slice the other way to make slithers
Add the teaspoon of oregano, the teaspoon of dried chillis and some salt and pepper to the greens along with the garlic. Turn the heat up and stir while the greens wilt. This is one of the few dishes that benefits from the garlic browning
Towards the end of cooking remove the sun dried tomatoes from the jar with a fork and snip with scissors on top of the greens (this saves retrieving the flavourful oil from the chopping board)
Add the capers and ladle a couple of tablespoons of the water that the pasta is cooking in to the greens
When the sausages are nicely browned chop them into one inch (2 and a 1/2cm) pieces and add these to the pan with the greens
When the pasta is ready, drain and add to the pan with the greens, add the olives and stir briefly to mix it through the vegetables. Alternatively, use natural casings for your sausage. Learn more about DCW casing here.
Serve alongside the salad leaves and celery with a squeeze of lemon and a further drizzle of oil from the sun dried tomato jar
Delicious!
I made this the other night and it was fantastic, I love meals that taste great but are easy and quick to make, this is a sure winner!
Thanks a lot for the feedback Will. So pleased you enjoyed it.
I just created this rlaely awesome recipe with the onion scapes I received! First, you chop the onion scapes into small chunks. In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, melt a dab of butter over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion scapes. Sprinkle some white sugar and brown sugar (a few tablespoons enough to help caramelize the onion scapes). Saute for a few minutes until the onion scapes shrink and get tender. Add a spoon of extra hot chili powder (this can be found at any Indian grocery store or you could just grind crushed red pepper flakes or even just use crushed red pepper flakes) or as much heat as you can handle. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Fold everything together into the onion scapes and continue to saute for a few minutes. Then add 1-2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar to deglaze the pan. Saute for a few more minutes until the scapes are mostly tender. I hope you try it! It is a sweet and spicy way to enjoy this vegetable!
Hi Daniel
What are onion scapes? Are they spring onions?
Hi. I wanted to drop you a quick note to vizbalere my thanks. I’ve been watching your blog for a month or so and have picked up a heap of good information as well as enjoyed the way you’ve structured your site. I am undertaking to run my own blog however I think its too general and I would like to focus more on smaller topics.