Just Say NO to Canned Spinach

Note to self: NEVER cook with canned leaf spinach again. Heinous! Fresh, always fresh spinach is the best! In fact, avoid the canned vegetables altogether.

My intention was to make a sausage and pasta dish tonight. I didn’t have any preset recipe in mind. I just knew that I wanted to use Farfalle pasta and sweet Italian sausage. I began by pan frying the sausage with some diced green peppers and seasoned it with kosher salt, ground black pepper, onion powder, and Italian seasoning. I rummaged through the pantry and found a can of diced tomatoes and threw that in. I should have stopped there. But I saw the can of whole leaf spinach because I immediately thought it needed more green.

As soon as I opened it and put it in the pan, I knew it was a bad idea. But for better or worse, it was in there. I let it all cook together, throwing in a pat of butter to finish the “sauce”. Then when the pasta was done, I poured the sausage, tomato, and spinach mixture on the cooked pasta. And, per my usual, sprinkled some red pepper flake to give it a kick. How did it taste? It wasn’t completely inedible, but fresh spinach would have brightened the dish and provide a better texture and flavor.

Try this recipe, but whatever you do: use FRESH SPINACH! 🙂