Pasta with Sausage and Kale – Kalyn’s Kitchen

posted by Kalyn Denny on June 14, 2021

I used Palmini Pasta made with hearts of palm to make a low-carb version of this favorite recipe for Pasta with Sausage and Kale! And this post has instructions to make it with regular pasta too, so use whichever you prefer for this tasty pasta dish. 

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Years ago I came up with a recipe for Pasta with Sausage and Kale that was so good I declared it to be one of the best things I’d ever made with kale. But even though it had a lot of sausage and kale and not much pasta, it wasn’t going to work for anyone who’s following a low-carb diet.

Then in January of this year a reader named Danielle wrote to me about a new product called Palmini Pasta and I was intrigued! I decided to test out the low-carb pasta on a recipe I knew I already liked, and when we tested this recipe with Palmini Hearts of Palm Linguini, Kara and I absolutely loved it! Since then I’ve made a few other tasty recipes with this amazing low-carb pasta, so stay tuned for more recipes to come!

What is Palmini Pasta?

Palmini Pasta (affiliate link) is a relatively new type of low-carb pasta made from hearts of palm. The pasta options are Linguini, Angel Hair (which is actually more like thin spaghetti), and Lasagna. The same company also makes low-carb rice and low-carb mashed potatoes from hearts of palm, which I am looking forward to trying. Kara and I have been having fun experimenting with the Palmini pasta products, and we really like the flavor of them. (And for anyone who might be wondering, this company hasn’t sent me any merchandise or paid me to feature their products.)

Why is this a good recipe to make with Palmini Pasta?

One thing people may have an issue with about the Palmini Pasta is the price; definitely it’s a lot more expensive than regular pasta. That’s why we’re working on developing some recipes like this one, where there are a lot of other ingredients in the dish to spread out the pasta. This Pasta with Sausage and Kale makes six servings from one can of Palmini Linguini, which makes it a lot more affordable.

What ingredients do you need for this recipe?

How to make this recipe:

(Scroll down for complete recipe with nutritional information.)

1. (IF MAKING WITH PALMINI PASTA) Drain the Palmini Pasta into a colander placed in the sink and rinse well with cold water.
2. (IF MAKING WITH REGULAR PASTA) Cook pasta until barely al-dente, following package directions. Save 1/2 cup pasta cooking water, then drain pasta.
3. Heat 1 T olive oil in a large heavy frying pan, squeeze sausage out of casings, and cook until sausage is nicely browned, breaking apart with a turner as it cooks. Remove sausage to a bowl.<
4. While the sausage is cooking, wash kale leaves and shake dry. Cut out the inner ribs, then pile up a stack of leaves and then chop them, continuing until you have chopped all the kale. (Sorry, missed taking photos of the chopped kale.)
5. In same large frying pan, put the 3 T olive oil, garlic, and hot pepper flakes and cook until you can barely start to smell garlic.
6. Then add chopped kale and cook 2-3 minutes, turning over several times, until kale is all wilted.
7. Add chicken broth, ground fennel, cooked sausage, and drained Palmini pasta to the kale and turn heat to low. Let this simmer about 8 minutes, or until the Palmini Pasta seems tender when you test a piece.
8. (If you’re using regular pasta, let the other ingredients cook a few minutes before you add the pasta. Then gently mix the cooked pasta into the sausage/kale mixture, and cook 4-5 minutes. Add as much pasta cooking water as you think you need for it to be moist.)
9. Add the Parmesan cheese and serve pasta hot, with extra Parmesan cheese to add at the table if desired.
10. This will keep well in the fridge for a few days, no matter which type of pasta you use.

More Recipes with Sausage and Kale:

Instant Pot Sausage and Kale Soup
Low-Carb Sausage and Kale Mock Lasagna Casserole 
Sausage, Kale, and Mozzarella Egg Bake

Ingredients

• 19.5 oz package hot turkey Italian sausage
• 1 bunch kale (see notes)
• 1 T minced garlic
• 3 T + 1 T olive oil
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
• one 14.5 oz. can reduced-sodium chicken broth (see notes)
• 1 tsp. ground fennel
• one 14 oz. can Palmini Hearts of Palm Linguini (or use 12 oz. Rotini Pasta to make with regular pasta)
• 1/2 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

Instructions

1. (IF MAKING WITH PALMINI PASTA) Drain the Palmini Pasta into a colander placed in the sink and rinse well with cold water.
2. (IF MAKING WITH REGULAR PASTA) Fill a medium-large pot half full with water, add a generous amount of salt, and bring the water to a boil. Add pasta, stir, lower heat, and cook until barely al-dente, following package directions for cooking times. Save 1/2 cup pasta cooking water, then drain pasta.
3. Heat 1 T olive oil in a large heavy frying pan, squeeze sausage out of casings, and cook until sausage is nicely browned, breaking apart with a turner as it cooks. Remove sausage to a bowl.
4. While the sausage is cooking, wash kale leaves if needed and shake dry (they don’t need to be perfectly dry.) Cut out the inner ribs if they’re thick. Then pile up a stack of leaves and then chop them, continuing until you have chopped all the kale.
5. In same large frying pan as you cooked the sausage, put the 3 T olive oil, garlic, and hot pepper flakes. Turn heat to medium-low and cook until you can barely start to smell garlic. (Don’t let the garlic brown.)
6. Then add the chopped kale.  Cook kale and garlic 2-3 minutes, turning over several times, until the kale is all wilted.
7. Add chicken broth, ground fennel, cooked sausage, and drained Palmini pasta to the kale and turn heat to low. Let this simmer about 8 minutes, or until the Palmini Pasta seems tender when you test a piece.
8. (If you’re using regular pasta, let the other ingredients cook a few minutes before you add the pasta. Then gently mix the cooked pasta into the sausage/kale mixture, adding as much pasta cooking water as you think you need for it to be moist enough.)
9. Add the Parmesan cheese and serve pasta hot, with extra Parmesan cheese to add at the table if desired.
10. This will keep very well in the fridge overnight, no matter which type of pasta you use.

Notes

We used about 8 cups of chopped kale. You can also use baby kale, which won’t need to be chopped.

Nutritional information is for the dish made with Palmini Pasta.

Recipe originally created by Kalyn with Rotini Pasta. Updated in 2021 to a version with Palmini Low-Carb Linguini.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

6

Serving Size:

1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 280Total Fat: 21gSaturated Fat: 4.6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13.5gCholesterol: 92mgSodium: 941mgCarbohydrates: 5.9gFiber: 1.8gSugar: .6gProtein: 26g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.

Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions: 
Pasta with Sausage and Kale with Palmini Pasta would be suitable for any low-carb diet plan, including Keto. The Palmini Pasta should be fine for any phase of the original South Beach Diet, but even with turkey Italian Sausage, this recipe is probably a bit high in fat for South Beach.

Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Pasta Recipes for more ideas like this one. Use the Diet Type Index to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.

Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe was first posted in 2011 using Rotini Pasta. It was updated in 2021 with a new low-carb version using Palmini Pasta.