Recipe #4: Vermicelli Noodles with Sausage & Spinach

Delicious vermicelli noodles with sausage and spinach in a garlic cream sauce!

One of my favorite places to eat is Hai Yen, a Vietnamese restaurant in Chicago.  While there, my beau and I like to go to the Vietnamese grocery store down the street.  This place has all kinds of great stuff, from tea to fancy ramen noodles to prawn-flavored chips to fish heads.  It is always fun to go and pick up some ingredients that might not be so easily found at the local Jewel-Osco.  While I did not pick up any fish heads, I did grab some vermicelli noodles.

It occurred to me, once I made it home that I have no idea how to use these vermicelli noodles.  I mean, I know how to cook them, but not much else.  So, rather than have them languish in the pantry indefinitely, I turned to my cookbooks.  I found a recipe in my big Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook that used vermicelli noodles.  It was a vermicelli, spinach and sausage in a garlic-cream sauce.  Plus, the recipe called for a dutch oven and I got a similar piece of cookware from work last week.

I absolutely love this cookbook.  It has tons of good, general information and a lot of categories.  They  even have a "convenience cooking" section of meals that are quick and easy.  This recipe was one of them!  

The recipe called for pre-cooked, smoked sausage.  I didn't know exactly what the recipe was referring to, so I just bought some Italian sausage.  It occurs to me now that they might have intended me to use something like kielbasa. Instead, I just cooked the sausage and sliced it as directed.

Next, I chopped garlic and onion to put into the pot with the sausage.  I put in more garlic than directed because, well, who doesn't love garlic?

After sweating the onions and getting them nice and translucent, I added the chicken broth and water that the recipe called for.  There seemed like a lot of liquid, but I pressed on.  When it came time to add the noodles, I did so, but it seemed like there was too much broth and not enough noodle.  I tossed in the rest of the package.  However, in just a few minutes, the noodles had soaked up all of the liquid.  Then, I couldn't fit the spinach in.  So, I just piled it on, put the lid on the spinach and hoped that it wilted.  Fact, it did!

Pre-wilted piles of greenery!  Yes, Mom, my stove is still dirty!  (Sorry!)

So, i just added in the cream, stirred it all together and served!  It was delicious!  I served it with some delicious bread I bought from a French chef at the farmer's market.  It was a great meal, and took a surprisingly short time to prepare.  I will definitely make this one again!

Seriously, it was a wonderful meal!  That bread was terrific too!

4 recipes down!  48 to go!