The secret is in the lemon.
But before you scroll down looking for the beauty shot of the lemon, let me break it to you, it’s not there.
You see, I didn’t even think about adding lemon juice when I was making this dish and then all of a sudden as I was about to serve it I thought, “oh, lemon! I should add the lemon!” And so I added the lemon.
This just put you to sleep, didn’t it?
Throw some coffee into your eyes real quick.
This is the deal, you guys. It’s the lemon juice having a little meet ‘n’ greet with fresh parmesan shavings. And then it’s the parmesan getting all cuddly and slightly melty over the angel hair noodles. And then it’s the noodles giving a deep tissue massage to the silky wilted kale. And then it’s the kale necking on some gorgeous garlicky cherry tomatoes. And then it’s that whole naughty mess doing the mambo with Al Fresco’s hot Italian chicken sausages and Y.O.U. W.I.L.L. B.E. P.A.R.A.L.Y.Z.E.D. F.O.R. L.I.F.E. W.I.T.H. U.L.T.I.M.A.T.E. J.U.B.I.L.A.N.C.E.
This is no laughing matter.
And actually, just go ahead and quadruple this recipe. Your soul might drop-kick you if you don’t.
* This is not a sponsored post. I was not compensated, other than the free Al Fresco products. All opinions expressed are my own, dudes.*
Angel Hair with Chicken Sausages, Tomatoes and Kale:
I’m going to eat 6 more helpings right now. WATCH ME.
What it took for 4:
* 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
* 1 pound (5 links) Al Fresco Hot Italian chicken sausages (with chili peppers and roasted red peppers)
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 10.5 oz cherry tomatoes
* 1 bunch kale, roughly chopped
* 1 lemon
* freshly grated parmesan cheese, for garnish
* coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
* 1 pound angel hair pasta
Heat the oil in a medium skillet. Remove the casings from the chicken sausages and add them to the pan. Cook until browned all over, 6 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add a little more oil to the pan and toss in the garlic. Bloom 30 seconds. Add the cherry tomatoes and 1/4 cup water (or oh – vermouth!) and cook the tomatoes for 3 minutes.
Add the kale, a pinch of salt and cook until the kale has wilted and pops in color, 3 minutes.
Add the chicken sausage back to the pan and toss to combine.
In the meantime, cook the pasta until it reaches al dente, and drain. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water. Add the pasta to the pan and toss to combine. Add enough reserved water to create a thin sauce.
Give a big squeeze of lemon juice over the whole beautiful mess. Serve a good helping with fresh parmesan shavings. And would you like more lemon? Of course you do.
this is totally up my alley. lunch at bev’s today?
i wish.
Gorgeous! This looks so delicious, and I think even hubs would love it!
Did ya notice I didn’t say anything about the sausage? I’m trying to be more mature
It’s like you knew I had a bunch of kale sitting in my fridge, waiting to be used. And then it’s like you installed a tracking system in my car and know that I pass a Trader Joe’s everyday with the best sausage ever. Ok, I’m on it!
how did you refrain from eating this all?? I’m not sure it would have been camera ready if it were me… in other words, looks delicious!
Um, YUM!! And I love that shot of the pasta. Gorgeous!
Pasta just makes the world a better place. Especially when it has tomatoes, sausage, kale, Parmigiano and lemon ; ) Swoon.
I saw this on your instagram last night and was dying to know what it was — this sounds and looks absolutely awesome!! I’m definitely going to try making this soon. I’ve never cooked with kale (although, I LOVE it when my mom does) so this’ll be fun to try out! I love your pictures of this dish, by the way. Especially the dry pasta picture!
UGHHHH.
Your pictures are so pretty it makes me sick. (Not really. It’s the opposite of that, really.)
Lemon + parmesan rocks my world. I combined the two on a kale salad last night to die for and honestly, while I like kale, it’s not usually “to die for” but with lemon + parmesan it is.
YUM!! I’m hungry now. Colorful too. Does your spell checker thingy just GO NUTS????
OH-MY-YUM!! What an amazingly-fabulous meal.
This looks amaaaazing. I see that brand of sausage in the grocery store all the time, but I’ve never tried it. That needs to change, pronto.
mmmmm i’m drooling at my desk. this looks fabulous!!!! i’m totally making this for dinner this week! and, like i always say, your photos are gorgeous!!! although the one with the sausage in the casings is kinda creeping me out haha
Haha!! I agree. I thought, “hmm, should I post? Should I not?” and then the devil on my shoulder said DO IT OR ELSE.
beautiful pics, bev!
except for that…sausage. it looks a little too…well…
LOL
Have a great day my dear!
Another recipe to add to my collection : ) Thanks!
This needs to be in my mouth! I think i’d probably eat the whole dish straight from the skillet.
Perfect combo, love the lemon!
Yum to the O! Pasta is my life… and that noodle shot is freakin’ awesome!
I love pasta and any combination of sausage. Adding kale just makes it even more awesome.
You know your pasta, so I’m going to have to add this to the long list of dishes of yours that I need to make. Also, I think angel hair trumps every other kind of pasta out there.
Darn girl, your pictures are always awesome! And at the risk of sounding inappropriate, I really love sausage. Like, really. I think I would be a vegetarian if it weren’t for sausage. This pasta rocks!
I am making this bad boy tonight! {JAZZ HANDS!}
Love pasta without nasty jarred sauce. Think I will be adding this to my “need to make” list!
YUMM this looks delish! I love lemon and parm cheese together – such a good combo. Beautiful shots too!!! MMMMM….. sausage…..
What a fab recipe… my husband would be all over this!
THIS is the recipe I’ve been waiting for!!
This looks fantastic girl. When can I come visit for dinner?
I made this last week and it was sooo good! The leftovers were great too! Thanks Bev!
Just made this and it was amazing! Great recipe thanks for the share
This didn’t work out well for me!
The full pound of pasta was WAY too much – even after removing about half, there just wasn’t enough flavor/oil/moisture for the amount of noodles. I added some red pepper flakes, which I loved, but I couldn’t taste the garlic or the lemon for some reason. I guess next time I will add a bit more olive oil (and salt, probably?) to make sure all the noodles get coated.. maybe some lemon zest along with the lemon? I like concept of this dish a lot – maybe it just wasn’t my night 
Oh that breaks my heart! I feel awful. I’m so sorry it wasn’t good. But I’ve totally done that, where I add ALL THIS PASTA and there’s no room for sauce or flavor. I’ll adjust the recipe and hopefully you won’t give up on me.
Thanks for letting me know!