Pasta with White Sausage and Greens

But first... Did you vote in the Project Food Blog contest? The button is over there on the right. Yeah that's it. Just click, register at FoodBuzz, the most amazing site for anyone who enjoys food, and vote. You have until September 23. Tick, Tick, Tick...
And now back to our regularly scheduled blog post...

Mark Bittman again! Tonight's recipe is being submitted for the I Heart Cooking Clubs Potluck dinner. I found this recipe with the How To Cook Anything app. I had watched a podcast last week and Mr. Bittman made Escarole and Rice. I was going to make that but I thought I'd try this recipe first. Like most of his recipes this was pretty easy to prepare. And both Chris and I enjoyed this dinner. Pasta and escarole... that's Italian!

Ingredients
salt
2 tbsp. butter
8 oz. sweet sausage, removed from the casing
1 lb escarole
freshly ground black pepper
1 lb. ziti
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it.
Fill a large bowl with ice water.
Once the pot of water comes to a boil put the washed escarole into the water and blanch for no longer than a minute. Fish out the escarole with a slotted spoon and strain and immediately plunge into the bowl of ice water. When it is cooled squeeze dry and roughly chop.
Put the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. As it melts, crumble the sausage meat into it, making the bits quite small, 1/2 inch or less. Add the chopped escarole and 1/4 cup water and adjust the heat so that the mixture bubbles gently, adding a little more water if necessary, until the sausage is cooked through and tender, about 5 minutes. (You can make the sauce in advance this point; cover and refrigerate for up to a day. Reheat gently.)
Meanwhile, cook the pasta until tender but not mushy. Drain it, reserving about a cup of the cooking water. Toss the pasta with the sauce, adding some of the reserved cooking water if necessary. Taste and adjust the seasoning, then toss with the Parmesan and serve.

Forgot to post this... I took this photo yesterday at Bauer Park!