Tomato, Sausage + Parmesan Pasta

My brother Jay came to DC to visit for the weekend.  This is one of the last weekends I have free before we move, and we figured we needed to get in at least one more time of hanging out before the wedding and the move to Texas! Yikes! We have less than month until the wedding… I’m kind of freaking out.

But anyways, Jay is a college student and needs a lot of sleep. Izzy woke me up at 7 am and needed to go out, and unfortunately I wasn’t able to go back to sleep.  So, I figured it was as good of a time as ever to write up this pasta dish I a while back. It came from one of my sister’s issues of Cooking Light, but I have no idea which one.

In the past, I was kind of against foods or recipes that were purposely made low-fat or non-fat. After living with my sister and her husband for a while post-college I came to the realization that ‘light’ recipes actually be really good, and you have no idea you’re eating something low fat!

This happens to be one of those recipes, it tastes fatty (and thus delicious) because of the sausage, but it’s actually not too unhealthy. I’ll definitely be making it again.

Tomato, Sausage + Parmesan Pasta

recipe from an issue of Cooking Light

8 ounces penne (half a box)

3 sausages (I used ‘gourmet chesapeake style’, whatever that means)

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 cup onion, chopped

2 teaspoons chopped garlic (about 3 cloves)

2 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped

about a 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves

Cook the pasta according to the directions, and drain.

While the water is boiling for the pasta, grate the cheese and chop the tomatoes, onion and garlic.

I only have a picture of the tomatoes, because they’re prettier than chopped onions. And I guess I was lazy with photo taking.

Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Remove the casings from the sausage (this is a really gross task, by the way!)  Add the oil to the pan, and swirl to coat.

Add the sausage to the pan, and use two utensils to break it into bite sized bits. Add the onion after the sausage is chopped into bits, and cook for about 4 minutes. Add in the garlic, and cook for an additional 2 minutes, while stirring occasionally.

Stir in the tomatoes, and cook an additional 4 minutes.

Remove from the heat, and stir in the pasta, 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese, salt + pepper.

Sprinkle each individual portion with as much Parmesan as you want, and some torn basil.  This dish re-heats really well in the microwave, so it makes good leftovers!

Mmm, I bet this will be even better in the summer when both the tomatoes and basil are fresher, and hopefully homegrown.

Oh, and by the time I was FINALLY able to finish this post, it’s now almost a week later and almost 11 pm at night.  Life is so busy right now, but in a good way.

Brett is hiking the Inca trail to Machu Picchu right now. The hike takes four days total and is supposed to be grueling, although there is very pretty scenery. I hear one of the days they have to hike up four kilometers of stairs.  He comes back to the States early next week and I can’t wait!