Getting back into the kitchen: Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli

The Weeknight Gourmet has been sick.  :-(  I’ve had a bad cold that I’ve had a hard time kicking.  I even missed my own birthday dinner — we cancelled our reservations at Buddakan.

I was starting to feel a bit better on Monday.  And, I was sick of ordering in so I decided I would try to make a very simple dinner.  I saw this recipe in a recent issue of Real Simple.  It fit the bill since it required little prep work and very few ingredients.

I used a sweet Italian chicken sausage.  I also accidentally chopped the onion rather than slicing it.  To save time, I bought pre-cut broccoli.  To give a little kick to the dish, I added some red pepper flakes as the onion was cooking.  Lastly, I probably added closer to 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese.

The broccoli – sausage mixture develops a nice broth that coats the pasta.

The recipe serves 4 but since it was only two of us, I halved the pasta.  I kept the other ingredients roughly the same so we had more sausage and broccoli, and fewer carbs.

The dish was very tasty and a welcome change from the takeout we’ve been eating for the past week.

Pasta With Chicken Sausage and Broccoli
Real Simple

• 12 ounces rigatoni (about 4 1/2 cups)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1  onion, sliced
• 6 ounces fully cooked chicken sausage links, sliced
• 1  small head broccoli, cut into florets and stems sliced
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 ounce)

Cook the pasta according to the package directions.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the onion, stirring often, for 3 minutes. Add the sausage and cook, stirring, until browned, 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the broccoli and 1¼ cups water and simmer, covered, until the broccoli is tender, 5 to 6 minutes.

Toss the pasta with the sausage mixture and any remaining liquid and the Parmesan.

Serves 4