Sausage, Peppers, Onions, & Penne

This quick dish is a great way to enjoy lunch when you don't have a lot of time to prepare something more extravagant but you do want something full of flavor.

• You can forego the Penne if you want to make this carb-free, or cut the amount in half like I sometimes do.
• You can also use a lower amount of Olive Oil if you want to cut down on the calories.
• We don't have any Salt or Pepper in this recipe, outside of seasoning for the pasta Water, but feel free to add if you'd like. In my experience, Italian Sausage is typically plenty seasoned for the whole dish. 

Preparation

• Fill a pot with Water and Salt and set it to high so it can get up to boiling.
• Slice Green Pepper into thin strips.
• Slice Onion into thin strips.
• Peel and slice Garlic.
• Remove Italian Sausage meat from casing.

Cooking Directions

Before we cook the main part of the meal, you're going to want your Water boiling for your Penne. The rest of the dish should take about the same amount of time as the Penne! Please cook your Penne according to "al dente" directions so it isn't mush. 

1. In a non-stick skillet over medium heat, add half your Olive Oil.
2. Once Oil is heated, add the Onion and Green Pepper.
3. When your Onion and Green Pepper are around half cooked to your liking, add your Italian Sausage meat, crumbled.
4. Immediately after, add your Garlic slices.
   • Optionally, you can add your Garlic in Step 1 if you'd prefer it to be more thoroughly cooked.
5. When the skillet portion of the meal is cooked through, add your cooked Penne (drained from water), and add the remaining half of your Olive Oil.
   • Depending on the Sausage, this might not be needed. If there's a good amount of Oil in your pan still from the Sausage, that'll be enough to coat your Pasta in yum.
6. Stir until everything is nicely combined. Remove from heat, eat before it gets cold!

As I said before, the Penne isn't necessary for a good dish - Sausage, Garlic, Peppers, and Onions are good on their own - but it adds a nice bite to the meal.

As with any meal, you can change this up to better suit your own tastes.

• If there's a different type of Sausage you prefer, this works just as well!
• Like other veggies instead? Sure!
• Different type of Pasta? Okay!
• Also, forego the Penne and eat this on a Bun for an awesome sandwich!

Experiment with the Sausage + Veggies + Pasta combo, and you won't be disappointed.

Also, my favourite brand of pasta, imported from Italy, is made by Felicetti. Their Monograno line is top tier though it can be expensive so it's more of a special occasion pasta and in some areas it can be difficult to find.