Skinny Chicken Sausage & Spinach Riggies

Okay, so I have to admit I have never been East of Cleveland.

Therefore, even though the concept of "Riggies" originated in NY, I believe a great recipe can travel all over the country. Chicken Riggies is a pasta-based dish usually consisting of chicken, rigatoni and hot or sweet peppers in a spicy cream and tomato sauce, although many variations exist.



What's nice about this recipe is that it is family friendly, weeknight meal friendly and it's a great company meal as well.

I chose to make this with a Chicken Italian Sausage, used Greek Yogurt in place of the cream and ramped up the veg level by throwing in fresh Spinach.

Wheeee!!! See,skinny can be really, really tasty!

Ingredients:
16 oz. Rigatoni pasta
20 oz. Chicken Italian Sausage
1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes
1 small onion
1 garlic clove
3-4 Pepperoncini peppers
2-3 cups fresh Spinach
1 cup greek Yogurt
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat a large pot of boiling water and heavily salt it and cook the rigatoni for 15-16 minutes. Drain and place back into pot and reserve 1 cup of pasta water.
2. Meanwhile, in a large saute pan, brown the sausage for 10-12 minutes and remove to a plate to reserve. 
3. In a large bowl, add the tomatoes, onion, garlic and peppers and blend with a stick blender or alternatively puree in a food processor. 
4. In the same saute pan that the sausage was cooked, pour in the tomato blend and cook for 8-10 minutes. Add in Spinach and cover and simmer stirring occasionally, until Spinach is wilted and sauce is thickened. Taste and add in salt and pepper to taste.
5. Add in Greek yogurt and stir to combine and cook on a low heat. Do not let come to a boil-just a low simmer.
6. Add in cooked sausage and cover and cook on low for 10 minutes. 
7. In the large pot of pasta pour sauce and combine with cooked pasta. 
8. Serve ladled into bowls and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!

This recipe is shared on My Link Parties