Tasty Thursday: Smoked Sausage Pasta

Ok, let me give you the ingredient list first. I always like to see how many and what ingredients are used before I get too excited about making something. :o)

nopin="nopin" 1 package of smoked sausage, sliced into coins
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups chicken broth (or more to taste)
1/2 cup cream
8oz short cut pasta (like elbow, pene etc)
2 cups shredded cheese (mozzarella, Monterrey, cheddar, it's your food!)
2 green onions (tops and bottoms/green and white), sliced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste



See? Not that many ingredients. And for me, they are items we always have on hand anyway. Another thing I love about this recipe? ONE POT! Wha?? Yeah, one pot. Oh and it's quick too. Score! My husband love this dish. He would have it every week if it were up to him. But I have too many new recipes to try to devote one specific meal to once a week.

I am a Pinterest Freak! I have gobs and gobs of boards and pins. BUT I am one of those people who actually cook or make the things I see on Pinterest.
This recipe is one of those said pins. I would give credit to the original pinner, but I had this thing pinned 3 times and each one was from a different blog. :o/

And now, this blog. But I am changing it up for you guys. So now it's officially "my" recipe.


Here are the swaps I made to the original recipe to make it a little more healthy.



I used fat free evaporated milk instead of cream. Turkey smoked sausage and Dreamfields low carb pasta. 






(sorry about the flash reflection)

Heat oil in a skillet. You want to use a skillet that can withstand going under the broiler.

Brown the sliced sausage over medium high heat. As you can see from my pictures. I almost let mine get too brown.





Ya know that laugh your child makes when you just know something is going on that you would not approve of? Yeah, my four year old made that laugh so I had to go investigate and in doing so, they brown just a little more than I would have liked. I thought my whole dish was ruined! I was about to cry. Not only was I making the recipe for the blog, some of my in-laws were coming in and I did not have time to make something else. Thankfully, it was still delicious and everyone gobbled theirs up. Whew! Oh the reason for the laugh? My 16 month old was standing on the fireplace hearth. The little monkey.


After the sausage has began to brown, add the onions until they are soft. Then add the garlic for about 30 seconds.


My little tip about cutting onions. When you get the peel on the cutting board, they are a pain to get off. They always seem to just stick on it. However, use the outer peel you take off and sweep it over the skin that is on the board. The peel will help remove the skin easily.










Pour in the tomatoes and scrape up any brown bits off the bottom of the pan.



Then add 2 cups of low sodium chicken broth. I prefer the low sodium because the smoked sausages tend to be salty.





Add the evaporated milk. Bring to a boil and add the pasta.




Give it a good stir, making sure the pasta isn't sticking to the bottom.
Return to boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for about 7-15 minutes, depending on the cut of pasta you use. Make sure you stir it a few times during the cooking process to prevent sticking. I added probably another 1/2 cup of broth as it wasn't "soupy" enough for me.





Stir in half of your cheese and sprinkle the rest on the top.


Place under the broiler to brown. And top with the sliced green onions.





Excuse my ratty looking cook top. Hey, if you happen to have an auto body shop, I'd totally make you this delicious meal in exchange for painting my cook top and oven? *bats my eyelashes*

Now, a couple tips and an easy switch up.

 



Instead of going back and forth to the trash, or using a garbage bowl (really? Who wants more dishes to wash??) Use a plastic garbage bag. It helps keep your work area tidy and repurposes the plastic bag you had to get when you left your reusable bags in the car, or worse, at home. *hangs head in shame*




When you open your broth carton and you won't use all of it, write the date on the top to keep track of when you opened it. It's usually good for about a week opened in the fridge.


Now for the switch ups. As you can see from my ingredients picture, I used garlic and onion tomatoes. But you can use plain, Italian, chili read or....you can spice it up! You can even use chicken, ground meat, ham or make this a meat free meal. It's so versatile.





Since I was having company over, I made two pans and made one spicy. I switched out the regular tomatoes with ones with jalapenos and instead of mozzarella, I used Pepper Jack cheese.






Bad thing? Hubby enjoyed the spicy version so much, I'm afraid I'll be make two pans each time I make this. Good thing? Leftovers!! :o)

I hope you make this and I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. What other recipes would you all want to see me cook up?


~Rebecca

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Smoked Sausage Pasta

1 package of smoked sausage, sliced into coins
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups chicken broth (or more to taste)
1/2 cup cream
8oz short cut pasta (like elbow, pene etc)
2 cups shredded cheese, mozzarella, Monterrey, cheddar, it's your food!
2 green onions( tops and bottoms/green and white), sliced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a skillet.
Brown the sliced sausage over medium high heat.
After the sausage has began to brown, add the onions until they are soft. Then add the garlic for about 30 seconds.
Add tomatoes, chicken broth and evaporated milk.
Return to boil.
Reduce to simmer, cover and cook for 7-15 minutes until pasta is al dente.
Stir in 1 cup of cheese and top with remaining.
Place under broiler until cheese is brown and melted.
Top with green onions.