1/9/11

Spicy Italian Chicken Sausage Pasta

Spicy Italian Chicken Sausage Pasta

Hearty, healthy, easy AND delicious. This was so quick and easy I whipped it up for a quick lunch this weekend.

As is often the case, I headed out to the market - this time Whole Foods - to pick up some specific items and ended up strolling around the store and getting super hungry.

This chicken sausage really caught my eye:

Lots of delicious flavor and not too spicy at all - just perfect!

And I immediately thought it would go great (and would be quick) in a pasta dish, so I headed to look for some fresh rigatoni pasta. I didn't find that so I wandered into the dry pasta area and discovered pasta made with farro! So healthy and hearty.

Of course I abandoned the rigatoni idea and went straight for this healthy pasta:

Pasta made with farro!

With a few more simple ingredients, the sauce was ready in no time:



And since you'll have the pasta cooking while your pulling your sauce together, dinner (or lunch in this case) will be ready in under 30 minutes...easily under 30 minutes.


Spicy Italian Chicken Sausage Pasta

Serves 4

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 12-ounce package spicy Italian chicken sausage links, sliced into bite size pieces (I used Brat Hans)
1 8.8-ounce package organic farro casareccia pasta (or any pasta) (I used Rustichella d'Abruzzo)
1-2 teaspoons dried Italian herb seasoning
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 14.5-ounce can whole tomatoes

1 whole roasted red pepper, torn or cut into small strips
salt to taste
shredded and/or grated Parmigiano Reggiano (don't skimp here, Parmigiano Reggiano is the best and makes a huge difference)
fresh basil for garnish

Heat a skillet to medium and add olive oil, then brown the slices of chicken sausage. It's already fully cooked, so you are just browning here.


Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to package directions using heavily salted water. This will help give a little more flavor to the pasta.


When the sausage has browned add the Italian herb seasoning, crushed red pepper, and garlic and saute for about a minute until the garlic is fragrant:




Next add the tomatoes, roasted red pepper, and a heavy pinch of salt, and stir using your spoon to break up the whole tomatoes into smaller chunks.


liquids will cook away in about 10 minutes or so


Saute over medium heat, stirring occasionally and allowing the liquids to cook away, about 10 minutes or so. Taste and, if desired, add more salt and crushed red pepper to taste.


When pasta is ready, drain and place in large pasta bowl. Drizzle a little extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle shredded or grated Parmigiano Reggiano over the pasta, then cover with sauce. Garnish with more Parmigiano Reggiano and fresh basil. Excellent served with garlic bread.


Welcome to a big bowl of hearty and delicious!






Wine Pairing:

2008 Root: 1 Carmenere

This bold red from Chile is fabulous and well-balanced with gentle notes of blackberry, plum and spice. Think Bordeaux. I would enjoy this anytime but it was excellent paired with this spicy pasta.

Root: 1 uses grapes grown from their original, ungrafted root systems. The result is pure and delicious.

19 comments:

  1. whenever i cook up a pasta dish like this i ask myself, "why don't i do this more often"? - you are right , quick- healthy- and delicious!
    happy sunday
    chef louise

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  2. This looks great! I love your idea to use those sausages and also the roasted peppers...YUM!

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  3. That looks like a delicious dinner! I often get a sundried tomato chicken sausage from Trader Joe's and make a dish very much like this, but with whole wheat pasta. Definitely easy and fairly healthy!

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  4. Divine, Veronica - I adore dishes like this. I'm right into trying to use more whole wheat pastas right now and this farro pasta looks wonderful. I think I can probably even get that here :-)
    Sue xo

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  5. This looks so tasty! I'll have to try roasted peppers the next time make pasta sauce!

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  6. Yum, that pasta looks great - hearty and healthy!

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  7. Wonderful, tempting photos! I love this dish!

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  8. Ive already had supper but this looks like it could really hit the spot right now. :)

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  9. That "Whole foods" gets me every time. I love strolling through there when I'm hungry. I don't know if I have ever had chicken sausage, but anything chicken for me is great! This looks delicious.

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  10. What a great meal! And I love that you included a wine-pairing for the wine-challenged (such as me!).

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  11. Savoury dish with excellent wine pairing! The sauce with roasted peppers looks great against the healthy choice pasta. Nice recipe!

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  12. Hi sweety!!! You know how much i love your blog!!! I just added you to my favorites in another way! If you are interested check out this post

    http://donkeyandthecarrot.blogspot.com/2011/01/love-and-art-of-giving.html

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  13. i am loving the wine pairing section on the blog- very impressive!!

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  14. Love it!! We have had that wine before!! Its very good!

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  15. oh yeah i tried that wine before as well and love it. thanks for sharing this dish.. i really love italian sausage over pasta:)

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  16. I love this post for 3 reasons - I love to enhance pasta with veggies and a protein! I love to see Penzey's spices in anything. And my Dad's absolute favorite wine is Root!

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  17. You have a wonderful food blog! I like the way this recipe looks. You make great pictures!

    Congratulations on your guest post, I am glad I read Chef Dennis and therefore had a chance to meet you.

    Have a great weekend :)

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  18. It was wonderful to see your guest post on More Than A Mount Full! I love how you are doing some wine pairings. Can't wait to see more of your work! Have a great weekend!

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  19. Lovely, i love a nice spicy recipe. Thanks for sharing this.

    simon

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