Pasta with Sausage, Feta, and Spinach

 So our oven died a few weeks ago and we've been waiting for the new one to arrive. The loss of the oven has forced us to get creative. Normally we make burgers in the winter on a ridged baking sheet. It works great. However, no oven. I wound up outside grilling burgers in the middle of winter. I figured if I had to fire up the grill, I'd throw some brats out there, too. That's how I ended up with this recipe. I had a pack of feta spinach brats I mostly grilled out of spite. You may question the use of brats here, and that's understandable. Most brats I've had have a suspicious texture. The Wife calls it "gritty." My father would say you should never eat "gray meat" and it's a judgement. That said, the brats we got from our local place are magnificent and worked great here. If you can find them or something similar, do it. If not, best of luck. You'll figure it out. I trust you. This one is quick and easy and is pretty damned good, if I do say so myself. As always, notes are in blue. 

Pasta with Sausage, Feta, and Spinach

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped (you can use jarlic if you want. I won't tell anyone)
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 4 sausages, cooked and sliced into 1/2" discs (this is open to experimentation. Obviously, Italian sausage would be fine here. Kielbasa? Probably not. I went with a pack of delightful Spinach and Feta Bratwurst from Turasky Meats that I cooked on the grill. If you can find something similar, I'd highly recommend it)
• 1 package (8oz.) frozen spinach, defrosted and squeezed of all excess water
• 4 ounces feta cheese
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1lb. pasta of your choice (I wanted to do rigatoni, but turns out we didn't have any. Wound up using farfalle. I guess use whatever you want. It should be fine. Hell, wrap it all up in lasagna noodles and bake it in alfredo sauce. Go wild.) 
• salt (this is mostly for cooking the pasta. The bratwurst had enough salt that I didn't feel the need to add any. Up to you, though, depending on your tastes)

Directions

1. Cook pasta to according to instructions (looking for al dente), drain and set aside.
2. In a large pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and sauté a minute or so.
3. Add the tomatoes and sauté for 3-5 minutes, until the tomatoes start to break down a bit.
4. Add the spinach and cook to remove any excess water. 
5. Add the feta and sausages. Make sure to keep things moving in the pan so you don't burn anything.
6.  Add in the cream and bring to a simmer. (It's possible that the spinach will soak up a lot of the cream. Feel free to add a bit more if you like a thicker sauce. We used just enough that everything got a light coat.)
7. Add pasta to sauce and toss to combine.

Good times!