Fry

Whole Wheat Torchiette Pasta with Artichoke Pesto, Peas, and Italian Sausage

July 19, 2016
4.3
6 Ratings
Photo by Community Grains
  • Serves 4
Author Notes

Gorgeous with fresh ingredients like fennel-spiced sausage, chives, and peas, this quick weeknight supper is tart, refreshing, and oh so good because its sauce, a springly and pantry-friendly artichoke pesto, catches in the twists of our Torchiette. Leftover pesto will keep in the fridge in a sealed container for up to a week. —Community Grains

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Ingredients
  • 10 ounces Whole Wheat pasta such as Community Grains Torchiette (Identity Preserved)
  • 14 ounces can of artichoke hearts, drained
  • 1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley + extra for garnish
  • ½ cups basil leaves, gently packed
  • 1 teaspoon garlic
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil + 2 tablespoons for below ingredients
  • 1/2 pound Italian chicken sausage (or up to 3/4 pound, depending on how hungry you are!)
  • 1/2 cup frozen green peas, defrosted
  • black pepper to taste
Directions
  1. Bring 4 quarts of well-salted water to rolling boil. Add pasta and cook according to timing on the box (about 6 minutes).
  2. While the pasta is cooking, make the pesto. Add the artichokes, parsley, basil, garlic, lemon juice, and ½ cup olive oil to a food processor and grind for a minute, until it reaches a consistency you like (we like more of a smooth paste). This makes about 1.5 cups of artichoke pesto.
  3. Pasta should be done by now, drain. While it’s warm, toss with a cup of the pesto in a large bowl. Set aside.
  4. Place a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Once hot, add a tablespoon of olive oil and crumble in the chicken sausage. Use a wooden spoon to break up larger bits. Fry the sausage for about 7-8 minutes, or until completely cooked through and browned in some areas. Right before you remove from heat, add in the peas to the pan to warm through for 30 seconds, then remove from heat.
  5. To serve, toss the pasta with the pesto, peas, and sausage. Garnish with herbs, cheese, and a nice twist of fresh pepper.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

1 Review

V. November 11, 2018
So yummy! I made this recipe the other night – left out the sausage and substituted the peas for spinach.
Definitely will make it again!