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Skillet Toasted Penne with Chicken Sausage

skillet toasted penne with chicken sausage in a bowl

 

Happy Valentine’s Day!!  Are you braving the crowds to go out to dinner tonight?  We are staying in, and having dinner as a family.  I am going to make some fun appetizers for us enjoy.  Maybe if you are lucky I will be ambitious and take some pictures.  We have one go to appetizers that we have been making for at least 10 years, and I have yet to take pictures of it to share with you.  I know, I am a bad blogger!  But, I am making it up to you with this pasta.

skillet toasted penne with chicken sausage in a bowl

I made this for dinner on Wednesday night.  It is that good, I have to share it with you right away.  Usually I am at least a couple weeks ahead of the game with recipes, but this one can’t wait.  This pasta is not your average pasta dinner.  It is rich and creamy, but there is no butter, cream, or milk to be found.  There might be a tiny bit of cheese, but that is really only 2 tablespoons, so it definitely isn’t making anything creamy. You cook the toasted penne like you would risotto!  Yep, you warm up some stock, and slowly ladle it in until the pasta is cooked.  It leads to the creamiest pasta, that has so much flavor!

skillet toasted penne with chicken sausage in a bowl

When I was making this my husband kept giving me strange looks.  He finally said, this looks like the strangest way to cook pasta.  I explained how the recipe said to cook like risotto blah, blah, blah.  He shrugged and moved on.  Then we sat down to dinner, and he was convinced.  You could change this up a thousand different ways to match what your family likes.  Add in some veggies, leave out the meat, use different meat; whatever you can dream up, just follow this method.  I had the leftovers for lunch yesterday, they were wonderful!  I am not always in love with leftovers, so for me to say that, it means it was good.

Yield: 5

Skillet Toasted Penne with Chicken Sausage

skillet toasted penne with chicken sausage in a bowl

A creamy pasta dish without any butter, cream, or milk.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • 6 cups chicken stock
  • Olive oil
  • 12 oz . penne pasta
  • 1 small sweet onion, , chopped
  • 3/4 pound spicy Italian chicken sausage, (bulk, or casing removed)
  • 2 Tbls fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 2 Tbls Parmesan cheese
  • Oregano leaves, (optional)

Instructions

  1. In a pot heat chicken stock to a simmer, do not boil.
  2. In a large skillet, swirl a little olive oil. Heat over medium high heat. Add sausage and onion. Break up sausage, and cook until browned and cooked through. Remove from pan.
  3. Reduce heat to medium. Swirl about a tablespoon of olive oil in skillet. Add penne tossing to coat in the olive oil. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until lightly toasted.
  4. Add about a cup of chicken stock to the pan. Stirring freqently, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Add another cup of stock. Keep doing this until the pasta is cooked through.
  5. Add sausage back to the pan. Add Parmesan cheese, squeeze lemon juice over pasta, and season with salt and pepper. Stir and heat until sausage is warm.
  6. Serve with additional cheese, and oregano if desired.

Notes

Slightly Adapted from Cooking Light

Nutrition Information

Yield

5

Serving Size

1

Amount Per Serving Calories 420Total Fat 15gSaturated Fat 3gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 9gCholesterol 73mgSodium 1024mgCarbohydrates 43gFiber 2gSugar 11gProtein 29g

Did you make this recipe?

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Erin S
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Kris

Tuesday 4th of March 2014

I often toast my spaghetti, but have never considered toasting other pasta. Thanks for the inspiration!

Stacy

Monday 3rd of March 2014

I made this for lunch for my friend and I today and it was delicious! I used fresh basil on top and it was great. Interesting way to cook pasta and it made it very flavorful!

Erin S

Monday 3rd of March 2014

So glad that you enjoyed it! Thanks for the feedback!

Abbie @ Needs Salt

Saturday 15th of February 2014

This dish looks absolutely delicious! I love how it looks so simple - yet fresh and full of flavor. Pinning and bookmarking!

Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love.

Friday 14th of February 2014

This looks so tasty and I love how easy it is!

Laura (Tutti Dolci)

Friday 14th of February 2014

I love skillet pasta, what a great weeknight meal idea!

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