Lemon Spaghetti with Turkey Sausage & Spinach
While this pasta is packed with spicy sausage and lemon zest, the real star of the show is the noodles.
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Fresh lemon zest shines in this classic spaghetti dish with meaty turkey sausage and just a kick of heat. For less than $2 a plate, this is a quick and easy supper that we’re sure will make it into regular rotation in your household.
You can also swap out whole-wheat spaghetti with whatever kind you’d like. Here are a few of our favorite boxed pastas:
Garofalo spaghettini isn’t as thick as regular spaghetti, so it’s perfect for quick meals. There’s nothing worse than waiting forever for your pasta to boil just right! These noodles are also baked with a rough exterior, so more pasta sauce and flavors are absorbed within the noodles.
Organic Yellow Lentil & Brown Rice Spaghetti
You can’t go wrong with Trader Joe’s. This spaghetti is a blend of 90 percent organic yellow lentils and 10 percent organic brown rice. It’s also a great gluten-free option suitable for almost any combination of sauces, mix-ins and spices.
Faella is known as a true Italian pasta founded in Gragnano (a little historic Italian town) with a delicious toasted grain flavor. It’s important to cook these noodles al dente so that the consistency is chewy and firm, the way it’s supposed to be.
Cook any of these pasta in this recipe and make sure to toss with extra red pepper flakes to increase the heat!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 links fresh lean turkey sausages (about 6 oz), no added nitrates or nitrites, casings removed
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 8 oz whole-wheat spaghetti
- 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes, or to taste
- 6 oz spinach leaves (about 6 packed cups)
- 1 Tbsp. fresh lemon zest
- 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 oz Parmesan cheese, grated
Preparation
- Mist a large pot or saucepan with cooking spray and heat to medium-high. Add sausage and cook, stirring and crumbling with a spatula, until no longer pink, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
- To same pot, add 2 cups water and milk and bring to a boil on medium-high. (TIP: Watch carefully and stir from time to time, as milk has a tendency to boil over.) Add spaghetti and pepper flakes. When liquid returns to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer, stirring frequently, until spaghetti is just short of al dente, 11 to 15 minutes.
- Stir in spinach and simmer, uncovered, until spinach is wilted, most of the liquid has absorbed and spaghetti is al dente, 2 to 4 minutes. Add lemon zest, black pepper and sausage and stir until heated through, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Divide among plates and top evenly with cheese.
Nutrition Information
- Serving Size 1 1/2 cups
- Calories 370
- Carbohydrate Content 49 g
- Cholesterol Content 42 mg
- Fat Content 11 g
- Fiber Content 8 g
- Protein Content 22 g
- Saturated Fat Content 4.5 g
- Sodium Content 531 mg
- Sugar Content 6 g
- Monounsaturated Fat Content 0 g
- Polyunsaturated Fat Content 2 g