We're at our little cabin on Mt. Hood where we've been enjoying the beginning of another colorful fall season and savoring all the promises that the upcoming rains bring with them, hopefully creating the groundwork for another bountiful mushroom season.
At 350 square feet, our cabin's just the right size for getaways. It's quick to clean and upkeep is minimal. Yet, preparing dinner can be challenging with such limited space, and I'm always searching for recipes that are suited to the tiniest of kitchens. Perhaps that's the reason that I was originally attracted to this month's Incredible Recipe, which we encountered in Real Simple magazine. However, the first bite of this marvelous pasta dish ensured that wherever we were (mountain cabin or coastal home), it would reappear on our dinner table for years to come.
You have to love a recipe that it is quick and effortless to prepare wherever you find yourself, that calls for easy to find ingredients, and that encourages you to be creative and substitute/add other ingredients when putting the dish together. For example, we're fond of swapping out the Italian chicken sausage for Chicken and Apple Smoked Sausages, crimini mushrooms for mixed wild mushrooms, and casarecce pasta for campanelle pasta, which resembles a small cone with a ruffled edge. It's all delicious!
Bold floral plantings lined the walkways around
our holiday rental in Canada where we prepared this dish
in its compact, utilitarian kitchen.
Real Simple's Pasta with Chicken Sausage, Corn, Leeks, and Mushrooms
8 ounces casarecce or other short pasta
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for pasta water
3 tablespoons olive oil
12-oz package Italian chicken sausage, sliced crosswise into 1/4" thick pieces
8 ounces crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels (from about 4 ears)
2 medium leeks, chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon lemon zest, plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice (from 1 lemon)
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- Cook pasta in large pot of boiling, salted water until almost al dente, 8-10 minutes. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water.
- Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add sausage and mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until they begin to brown, about 5 minutes. Add corn, leeks, and salt and cook, stirring often, until corn is tender and leeks are soft, about 4 minutes.
- Add butter, lemon zest, and reserved pasta water and cook, tossing, until liquid reduces and coats pasta, about 3 minutes. Add lemon juice and toss to coast. Serve topped with basil.