Torchiette with Chicken and Apple Sausage, Red Grapes and Gorgonzola

Here are some things I love:

I love finding new meatless products and figuring out how to use them.
I love finding bargains in the market or my grocery store.
I love mixing ingredients in combinations that don’t seem obvious at first – but which turn out to be delicious.

Tonight was one of those nights where all those things I love . . . converged.

I needed a quick and easy dinner and had limited stuff in my fridge. So, I sliced Tofurky’s new Artisan Chick’n & Apple Sausage, combined it with sautéed red onion and organic red grapes, and mixed them with torchiette (a pasta whose name means “little torches”), gorgonzola, parmesan, and organic walnuts, and was bowled over by the combination!

30 minutes from thinking about it to eating – but because you’ll have the recipe, you can probably do it in 25!

This is a very, very simple recipe that has a big payoff in flavor. My son said there were almost too many flavors going on.

Now, I ask you . . . when can you have too many flavors in a dish? As long as they complement and don’t compete – I think you have a winner.

I’m going to go ahead and give you the recipe tonight because I’m eager to share this one. But please sign up for my newsletter to get more exclusive content that doesn’t appear on my website.

Hope you enjoy this one – please let me know what you think!

Torchiette with Chicken and Apple Sausage, Red Grapes and Gorgonzola

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

15 mins

Total time

25 mins

Author: Nancy Olah

Recipe type: Easy Weeknight Meals

Serves: 6

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed (optional)
1 14 oz. package Tofurky Artisan Chick'n & Apple Sausage, thinly sliced
2 cups organic red grapes (half left whole, and half sliced in half)
¼ cup dry white wine
¼ cup vegetable stock
1 lb. organic torchiette
½ cup grated parmesan
¾ cup crumbled gorgonzola
½ cup chopped organic walnuts
Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to boil for the pasta. Keep it covered, because it will heat up faster. Put in a tablespoon or two of salt when it comes to a boil.
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, and sauté the red onion for 6-7 minutes over low heat. Add the optional garlic and sauté for another minute.
Add the sliced sausage and cook for just a minute. Add the grapes, followed by the wine and vegetable stock.
The torchiette will take about 7 minutes to cook, so add it about 8 minutes before you want to eat.
Reserve ½ cup pasta water before you drain the pasta into a colander. Put the drained pasta back in the hot pasta pot, add about half of the pasta water, along with the parmesan. Stir, and add ½ of the gorgonzola. Look at the consistency of the pasta and taste it, adding more pasta water if you need to thin it or a little more parmesan for oomph.
Plate the pasta and add more gorgonzola, sprinkle walnuts on top, and a healthy dose of freshly ground black pepper.

Notes