Day 271: Can You Spot My Secret Ingredient?

The goal tonight was to use up a bunch of items that we had on hand:  cherry tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, spinach, and a fennel bulb.  I decided to make some whole grain pasta and toss in those items and some others that we also had:  garlic, parmesan cheese, and my favorite secret ingredient - white wine!  The only thing I actually had to purchase was some spicy turkey sausage.

I mixed the tomatoes with two large cloves of pressed garlic, about 1.5T of olive oil, and S&P and poured everything into a square glass baking dish.  The dish went into a 375 degree oven.

Next, I set the pasta water to boil (with salt & olive oil, of course) and cooked the pasta until al dente.  While that was happening, I prepared the rest of the dish.

I chopped up two links of spicy turkey sausage and thinly sliced the fennel.  These ingredients went into a large saute pan that had been pre-heated with a light coating of olive oil.  I also added about 2-3T of white wine and stirred frequently, cooking the mixture until the fennel was softened up (about 10 minutes).  

Then, I rough chopped four large handfuls of bagged baby spinach and added them to the pan.  The tomatoes had burst in the oven by the time the spinach was wilted, so I dumped them into the pan with everything else and cooked the mixture for another couple of minutes.  Then the cooked and drained pasta went into the pan and I cooked everything until the pasta was heated through (the noodles had finished before my sausage and veggie mixture, so I had drained them and rinsed them in cold water to stop the cooking process).

Finally, I tossed in about 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese and mixed everything together again.  Once the pasta was plated, I sprinkled another healthy dose of cheese over the top and some chopped fresh basil leaves over that.

This was a decent recipe - not one of my favorites, but a tasty and well-rounded meal with whole grain, protein, vegetables, and calcium.  The best part was, it enabled me to use up a bunch of stuff we had on hand just in time for the weekend.  Because you know I don't "do cooking" on Friday or Saturday nights.  Speaking of that, any restaurant recommendations to share?