Strozzapreti Pasta with Fava Bean Greens Pesto, Spicy Italian Sausage & Toasted Walnuts

This flavorsome pasta dish couldn’t be much easier, especially if you have pesto and toasted walnuts on hand, which are a real boon to the cook in spring and summer. The fava bean greens need only a brief heating, so toss them into the hot pasta just before serving.

The flavor of fava bean greens is delicate, buttery, and imminently appealing. The greens pair to good advantage with orange, lemon, walnut, chile peppers, garlic, sheep’s milk cheese, and green onions—all of which are in the pesto. The spicy Italian sausage, toasted walnuts, and soft, sheep’s milk cheese are savory counterpoints to the sprightly pesto.

Ingredient Note   You are probably familiar with fresh, silky goat’s milk cheese (chèvre), but have you tried fresh sheep’s milk cheese? In the same flavor family as pecorino romano, manchego, mizithra, and feta, it has a high lemony flavor and creamy, rich texture that I find irresistible. In addition, it isn’t as tangy and assertive as chèvre, which makes it a better choice for more subtle flavor partners, such as fava beans and their greens.

Pesto
¼ cup Fava Bean Greens, Walnut & Orange Pesto

Pasta
½ pound dried strozzapreti, casarecci, torchietti or other short, twisted pasta (or 1 pound fresh pasta, such as Portland Pastawork’s Casarecce)
1 tablespoon fine sea salt (for pasta boiling water)

Sausage
8 ounces spicy Italian sausage, casing removed (2 sausages)
1 tablespoon cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil

Embellishments
handful fava bean greens leaves (remove thick stems)
2 ounces soft sheep’s milk cheese, crumbled (such as Willapa Hill’s Willapa White) (whole milk ricotta also works here)
¾ cup (3 ounces) lightly toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped

Finishing
fine sea salt, to taste
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1. To cook the sausage, set a large sauté pan over medium heat, and add the olive oil. Pinch marble-size pieces of sausage into the pan. Sauté, turning frequently, until all pieces are lightly browned and fully cooked. If the pan becomes dry, add an extra drizzle of olive oil. Remove the sauté pan from the heat, but keep warm at the back of the stove. (If made in advance, gently rewarm.)
2. Fill a large (6-8 quart) pasta pot with insert with 1 gallon cold water, add 1 tablespoon salt, set over high heat, and bring to a rolling boil.
3. Add pasta to boiling water, stir rapidly, and cook to al dente (follow package directions).
4. Drain pasta quickly and add to hot sausage in the sauté pan.
5. Toss with the pesto sauce, until well incorporated.
6. Divide pasta between serving plates and top each with fava bean greens, crumbled sheep’s milk cheese, and toasted walnuts.
7. Serve immediately.

Serves 2-3.

More Fabuloso Pasta Recipes from LunaCafe

• Italian Bolognese Sauce (Ragù)
• Linguine with Balsamic Roasted Heirloom Tomatoes
• LunaCafe OtherWorldly Mac & Cheese
• Mostaccioli with Sweet Rainbow Peppers
• Old World Spaetzle: The New Pasta?
• Old-Fashioned Creamy Macaroni Salad
• Pasta Carbonara Perfecta Mundo
• Pumpkin Ricotta Gnocchi with Garlic Sage Butter
• Spaetzle, Wild Mushrooms & Broccoli Rabb with Thai Yellow Curry Sauce
• Spicy Penne & Chicken Salad with Chipotle Lime Dressing
• Spinach & Egg Fettuccini with Wild Mushrooms & Pancetta (Straw and Hay)
• Strozzapreti Pasta with Spicy Italian Sausage, Broccolini & Garlic Crema
• World Famous Green Chile Mac & Cheese

Cookin’ with Gas (inspiration from around the web)

• Y Len Ate: Making Pasta with Madame – Strozzapreti with Black Truffles
• Eat with a Spoon: Strozzapreti
• FXCuisine: Homemade Casarecce Pasta

Thanks for stopping by. Happy cooking!

Copy­right 2013 Susan S. Bradley. All rights reserved.