Sausage and Peppers Pasta

         Today I'd like to share an original recipe of mine! If it's not original I have no way of knowing it because I made it up off the top of my head. Anyways, it's become a family favorite. It's easy to make, feeds 4-6 good-sized servings, is DELICIOUS, and also freezes/reheats well if you don't need so many servings at a time, or just want to have it on hand for an easy dinner later. Also, while there are plenty of veggies in this, if it's a concern for non-veggie eaters, they're easy to pick around :) 

          As much as I wish it weren't so, I am the non-veggie eater in our house. I love the flavors of many of them but I'm pretty much a texture freak. Please enjoy this meme I made about my struggle.

The struggle is real.

 Moving on...

   

     I wish I had a trendier name for this stuff but this is what we call it at the house, so it's what I'm going with.  I would also like to say this dish has a lot of room for tweaking to your own personal tastes. Substitute your favorite cheese, pasta, add/remove veggies, more/less meat, etc. Love it how it is or make it your own :) 

Sausage and Peppers Pasta

 Ingredients: 

• 12-16oz (uncooked) of your favorite pasta (I prefer penne or ziti
• 14oz skinless smoked sausage
• 3 Bell Peppers of your choosing (I used 1 each of red, yellow and green)
• 1/2-3/4 average sized onion
• about 1 tbsp minced garlic, or 2-3 cloves fresh garlic, finely chopped
• about 1 cup Italian dressing 
• Parmesan or mozzarella cheese to taste 
• Butter and EVOO to saute veggies. If you use something else or choose to steam, be my guest :)

1. Julienne your bell peppers and slice your onion. If you have mandoline slicer it makes this step soooooo much easier and gives you a nice uniform size on everything (unless you're my husband, then it just gives you a good sized gash on your hand). If you don't, no biggie! I just 'em fairly thin so they don't take as long to get soft. Once everything is cut, go ahead and and throw it all, PLUS the garlic, in a pan with a few tablespoons of butter and some EVOO to start sauteing. Should look a little something like this.

2. Thinly slice sausage into medallions and start cooking them in a skillet over medium-ish heat. I usually let them cook until they look like the following picture (we like them that way :) but feel free to stop before they start to blacken if you prefer.

3. Once you get the sausage cooking, start the water boiling for your pasta. I'm no expert on getting a meal timed out together perfectly, but out of the sausage, veggies, and pasta, the pasta is what I want sitting the shortest amount of time so I always do it last. Once the water is boiling cook your pasta until fully cooked, or al dente, if you prefer.

4. If you have time while the 3 of these things are going, and you should, go ahead and start grating your parmesan, or mozzarella. You can use the pre-grated stuff, I just have found that it melts better when it's freshly grated.

5. As each segment finishes cooking, drain it and return it to a large pot/pan. Once everything is in, add Italian dressing to taste and stir. You could really eat it just like that, but is there anything in the world cheese doesn't make better? :-) Add cheese to the whole dish or let everyone add it to their own plate at the table. Enjoy!

          I got a little heavy-handed with the cheese and ended up with more of a cheese sauce than garnish. So it should look a lot like this, just less creamy. Again, a meme to help you feel my pain...

          

          If you try/want to try this recipe, do me a favor- pin it on pinterest and share on FB! And feel free to leave a comment below :)