Few months ago I bought some pork sausage meat to make an appetizer to serve the guests I was expecting that day. I cooked the sausage and was going to assemble the snack after the guests arrived. Guests came late and I did not make the snack. Next day I made that into a curry and we really liked it a lot. I added the curry to my pork recipes list for this month's on going Cooking Carnival. This was when I was still going back and forth with my sub themes.
Later, I decided not to do pork as an ingredient. As I was finalizing the list for chicken recipes, I listed crumbled pork sausage curry recipe with chicken sausage. This week when I was rapping up cooking for this week's blog posts, I wasn’t thrilled about chicken sausage curry as the final dish would still look like ground chicken saute, which I posted on day 10.
Keeping the same idea, I thought why not a one pot meal. Instead of making a curry with hot Italian sausage, I threw in some pasta to make it a one-pot meal. This is such a quick way to fix one-pot meal for weeknight dinners.
I threw in some spinach as well to make this a more balanced meal. I used only spinach but one can add veggies of choices. Both of us do not like too much of tomato sauce in our pasta and I usually prefer adding fresh tomatoes. Hence used some diced tomatoes. If one has some canned tomatoes or pasta sauce, that can substitute fresh tomatoes. I also used less pasta as we are trying to cut back on carbs. Overall, this was a filling meal.
Total Time: 25 - 35 minutes
Preparation: 15 - 20 minutes (Time to cook pasta)
Cooking Time: 10 - 15 minutes
Serves: 2 with a moderate appetite
Ingredients:
- 1 cup Penne Pasta
- ½ tsp. Salt
- 1 lb (3 pieces) Hot Italian Chicken Sausage
- 1 tbsp. Olive Oil
- 3 Garlic Cloves, chopped, about 1 tbsp
- 2 small Vine Tomatoes, diced or chopped, about 1 ½ cup when diced
- 1 cup firmly packed Baby Spinach
- ⅛ tsp. Dry Oregano
- ⅛ - ¼ tsp. Dry Basil
- ½ tsp. Salt (adjust to taste)
- ½ tsp. Chili Flakes (adjust to taste)
- 2-3 tsp. grated Parmigiano Reggiano (add more according to preference)
Preparation:
- Cooking Pasta - In a saucepan or a pot, bring water to boil.
- Add salt, pasta and give a good stir.
- Cook for 12 - 15 minutes until pasta is al dente, stirring in between.
- Reserve ½ cup of pasta cooked water and drain the pasta in a colander or a strainer.
- Cooking Sausage - While the pasta is cooking, take a wide saute pan and heat oil. I used a stainless pan and used 1 tablespoon oil. If using a nonstick pan, can cut down on oil.
- Remove sausage casing, crumble sausage and add it to hot pan.
- On medium high flame, saute crumbled sausage, breaking it further to finer crumble. It is ok to have big chunks. Reduce the flame if sausage is burns.
- Cook until sausage is almost cooked, about 5 - 8 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and wait for the pasta to cook. If pasta is already cooked, continue with the preparation.
- Pasta Sausage - Add chopped or crushed garlic, chili flakes, salt and cook for a minute.
- Add tomatoes, spinach and cook until tomatoes are soft.
- Add oregano, basil and stir until well blended.
- Add pasta and ¼ cup or more pasta cooked water, depending on how dry the pasta is.
- Stir well until everything is well blended.
- Continue cooking until flavors seep into pasta and chicken is fully cooked.
- Serve hot sprinkling some cheese on top.
Note:
- I used penne pasta. Fusilli, rotini, linguine, spaghetti or even shell pasta can be used. I used what I had in my pantry.
- I used dry herbs here. I did not want to buy a packet of basil when I need just few sprigs. If you have fresh basil, use it for more flavorful.
- Adjust chili flakes depending on how hot the sausage is. For more heat, increase chicken flakes quantity or add some pepper powder.
Priya Srinivasan says
Looks interesting usha, love the pictures and that plate is so stunning!! 🙂
PRADNYA says
been a long time since i have made pasta as a healthy eating option...this is inspiring
Srivalli Jetti says
Wow what a fantastic pasta you got there Usha..the pictures are so live and makes one want to grab it...
Sowmya:) says
Lovely pic and I am simply not able to take my eyes off that blue plate.
cookingwithsapana says
Pasta looks so colorful and flavorful.
themadscientistskitchen says
My girls will worship the ground on which you walk with all the chicken dishes you have cooked here. This is amazingly beautiful dish. Like I said I do not cook non vegetarian but can imagine the flavours here.
Smruti | Herbivore Cucina says
That pasta looks stunning! And I LOVE the plate and the set up. Really beautiful and colorful!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
First of all, I have to say, your plate looks gorgeous and you have topped it with even even better looking pasta. Lovely Usha!
Suja Ram says
Pasta looks stunning. And the plate is just too lovely.
Pavani says
Such a filling one pot pasta dish. Looks awesome.
Suma Gandlur says
The pasta is standing out because of that contrasting colored dish you chose to serve in.
Kalyani says
Loved the printed table napkin as well as the aqua blue plate ! Yes pasta does make a great filling one pot meal, isnt it ?
srividhya says
I am sure all chicken lovers would love this.. lovely clicks as usual.
Priya Suresh says
Wow, my younger one will finish a huge plate of this pasta without any fuss, such a fantastic dish and especially the addition of italian sausage makes this dish more interesting.
Vaishali Sabnani says
That is a flavorful pasta dish that you have there.
Nalini says
Delicious looking pasta,lovely props Usha..
Gayathri Kumar says
Nice idea for a one pot meal.
maha says
pasta looks very delicious...kids love it.