Recipe Tuesday ~ Sausage and Pepper Pasta

Late last week we grilled up a bunch of chicken sausages with asiago cheese and spinach that I had picked up at Sam's Club from one of the "food ladies" that were giving out samples.  They were very economical, and delicious.  So we grilled a bunch and figured we'd use the leftovers for other things.

As we were sitting down to eat, I turned on Rachael Ray and lo and behold (what exactly does that mean?) she was making meals with chicken sausages, including this awesome easy pasta.  It was the perfect 'what to do' with my leftover chicken sausages. I changed her recipe up a bit, and we had it on Sunday night.  It was so delicious!  It's not a healthy recipe, but it's not that bad. You could make it better by using whole wheat pasta, low fat or fat free ricotta cheese, and you're already saving a lot of saturated fat grams by using chicken sausages. You can also use pepperocini peppers if you want to spice it up a bit.

Sausage and Pepper Pasta (adapted from a Rachel Ray recipe)

1 box rigatoni or penne pasta
8oz spaghetti/pasta sauce (I use a kind that has no corn syrup in it)
1 can diced tomatoes, drained (or use diced fresh if you have them!)
Six chicken sausages, cooked (grilled, sauteed, or broiled) and cut into pieces
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 C jarred mild yellow peppers, drained (or chopped banana or pepperocini peppers)
1 med onion, chopped
olive oil
garlic
kosher salt
black pepper
1 16oz carton ricotta cheese
Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a non-stick skillet and saute onions, peppers, and garlic until soft. Add chopped sausage and cook five minutes more.  Set aside. 

While cooking vegetables, boil the pasta until al dente and drain.  Add back to the pot.  Add pasta sauce, tomatoes, and ricotta cheese and gently stir until the cheese has combined well with the sauce. 

Spread veggies and sausage mixture in the bottom of a baking dish.  Pour pasta and sauce over the top of the sausage and peppers.  Top with parmesan cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

This was very easy to make, it used staples that were in my pantry and fridge, and the family loved it! Give it a try and let me know what you think.

And speaking of letting me know what you think, I need a few good books for vacation and nothing is exciting me.  Tell me what your favorite vacation read is and I might pick it up today at the library or bookstore.  Thanks!  I've got some scrapbook freebies to give away and I'll pick winners randomly from my comments today.

No recipe next week......I'll be on vacation and making reservations instead.  I suggest you do the same!

Comments

[Lora]

Anything by Jane Green great beach reads. Light but good. Also if you have never read The Big Stone Gap series by Adriana Trigiani. The best books!! Enjoy your trip.

[Kelsey]

WOw that looks great!

[kristin]

And I loved the Friday Night Knitting Club!

[kristin]

I love reading your blog, especially the recipes!
My new favorite book series for summer vacation reads is anything by Jen Lancaster. I just finished "Bitter is the New Black" and I'm going tonight to buy the newest "Such a Pretty Fat"

Here's here funny blog: www.jennsylvania.com/jennsylvania

And here's a total non-sequitor:
I always wear mascara - even if I'm doing dirty work, or home sick in bed.

If you wanna know more quirky things like that, go to:
http://kwr221.blogspot.com/2008/07/wasting-away-in-margaritaville.html
Because You've Been Tagged

[Carjazi]

Sounds pretty good. Really like the whole wheat pastas. Have you read any of the Boelyn books? The Other Boelyn or Boelyn Inheritance. I just finished one by the same author called The Queens Fool. That time frame has always facinated me. I've got a new John Grisham waiting to be read too. I'm sure that you'll find some good vacation reading. Have fun!!

[AfriDigiDiva]

Barb, thank you s much for helping me diversify from this negative calorie thing I've been doing. I'm going to try this recipe tonight!

[amanda]

WOW! That dish looks delicious!
Have a GREAT time on your vacation. My book pick right now would be the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. I'm TOTALLY hooked!

[Heather]

That looks SO good, Barb!!

[Gina.Maria]

The thought of sausage and pasta makes my mouth water but I've got a family of picky eaters and I can only get it when I go out. Kind of a disappointment that way.

[beth nixon]

I always seem to stop by your blog on recipe Tuesday . . . . lucky me because I need all the cooking help I can get!!

[Clara]

Mmmm yum! That recipe sounds quick and easy and delicious! What more could you ask for? I think I'm going to give it a go!

[Amanda]

Aww, man, ya lost me at chicken sausage. I'm going to try it with regular italian sweet sausage though. My fil tried to feed us chicken sausage once and it was just downright awful we thought.

Books, I've recently read and liked The Firday Night Knitting Club, Three Cups of Tea, and Why You Shouldn't Eat Your Boogers and Other Useless or Gross Information About Your Body. Along the same lines, I read the Why Do Men Have Nipples? book awhile back. I also like Mary Janice Davidson's books because she's funny. I also go back and reread a lot of my funny books for the summers like David Sedaris and Erma Bombeck. Have fun on vacation!