Last Saturday was a great day. I went to Wegman’s for the first time ever and now I know first hand what a great grocery store this place is. I can’t wait to go back! Before I went to Wegman’s I had a recipe in mind for dinner, thanks to AllRecipes.Com. The recipe for the evening was Penne with Spicy Chicken Sausage, Beans and Greens.

We picked up the key ingredients at Wegman’s (which was so much fun to go to!)

Whole wheat penne pasta

andouille sausage (3)

cannellini beans

grape tomatoes

pesto

white wine

When we got home we started preparing. I was mincing garlic, cutting tomatoes, tearing and washing arugula. I finally remembered to start taking photographs as the cooking continued.

Things started coming together rather quickly. At this point I am waiting for the arugula to wilt:

In a few minutes the arugula did wilt – right on schedule:

Once the arugula was wilted we added the cherry tomatoes and asparagus (the asparagus was an addition – not in the original recipe. I steamed the arugula and chopped it first before we added it in to the mixture).

The final addition is the cooked penne pasta:

I let the pasta and the entire mixture continue to heat on the range for a few minutes. Then we plated it up:

The end result: penne with spicy andouille sausage, beans and greens garnished with freshly grated parmigiano reggiano cheese. A slice of rosemary and olive oil bread, also from Wegman’s which has become my favorite bread in recent memory – I cannot wait to get more of this stuff!

A quick note about this recipe. While cooking, I did not add any extra salt. The recipe calls for “salt to taste”. I cannot imagine if we had added salt to the recipe. Between the sausage, the beans, and the pesto (which was a Wegman’s pesto available at the olive bar – I did not have time to make my homemade pesto from scratch – I’m sure they added a little bit of salt into the pesto) this recipe would have been way too salty. So, don’t add salt! Or at least taste it before you do. Due to my cheese allergies, I did not use goat cheese or feta as others did. I did not think that there was much missing from the recipe by not using the cheese. Garnishing it with parm reg was the perfect touch of flavor at the end! Also, depending on the type of sausage you use in the recipe, this recipe can be hot and spicy!

I highly recommend trying this recipe at home! It is great for dinner and the left overs are sometimes even better! It is a hearty and healthy meal with so many great ingredients that work so well together. Give it a try and let me know hat you think!