Start a pot of water boiling to cook the pasta.

When water comes to a boil add the pasta and a generous amount of salt and cook until al dente. (The package of Fiber Gourmet Light Elbows says 10 minutes, but in Utah I have to cook it longer than that.

Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a very large frying pan over medium-high heat, squeeze sausage out of the links, and cook until it's nicely browned. (I used an old-fashioned potato masher to break the sausage apart.)

While sausage cooks, cut the collards into ribbons and wash in a salad spinner or in the sink. (Or if you buy a large bag of chopped collard greens like I did, you can skip that step!)

Remove cooked sausage and set aside.

Add 2 T more oil to the frying pan. Add the minced garlic and hot red pepper flakes and cook about 2 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan to get the cooked sausage bits.

Add the collard greens to the pan and cook about 5-6 minutes, or until greens are softened to your liking.

Then add the cooked sausage back into the pan (with about ¼ cup of pasta cooking water to moisten it) and cook 2-3 minutes more, or until sausage is hot.

As soon as it's al dente, drain pasta well in a colander placed in the sink.

Then add the cooked pasta to the ingredients in the frying pan and cook 2-3 minutes more.

Taste the mixture and season as desired with salt and fresh-ground black pepper.

Serve hot, with freshly grated Parmesan cheese to add at the table.