I’m throwing down a classic here, and I have to tell you, you’re going to like it. This dish has been something I’ve been making for years, usually when I am on a diet and need a pasta fix and looking for a healthy serving of protein. Bowtie pasta with Italian sausage…what more can you love? Well, how about hot Italian TURKEY sausage.
Yes, sorry ancestors, but I’m mixing things up for calories sake. Turkey sausage, particularly the hot sausage from Jenny O is my favorite. It’s flavorful and just spicy enough to charm my Sicilian palate. Not only that, but it pairs perfectly with this pasta dish that happens to have vegetables in it (wow!). Anyway, this is one of my go-to dishes when I’m looking to keep calories down without depriving myself from my needs.
Yes, I say needs because pasta is very much a need. Do not tell me otherwise, but I digress. The sauce this meal creates is light and flavorful and just hits the spot when you’re trying to be “good.” This dish can be tweaked in many ways if you want to add more or less vegetables, pork sausage or tofu, or you can even sub out the pasta for potatoes. Hope you enjoy this favorite recipe of mine. I’ll be off eating a bowl of this wherever I am.
Pasta with Italian Sausage
Calories: 509
Servings: 3
Fat: 12.4
Carbs: 71
Protein: 27.8
Ingredients
- 8 oz. Jenny O Hot Italian turkey sausage
- 1 bag of spinach and arugula (or just spinach)
- 8 oz. of Farfalle pasta (bowties)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 can of diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp. of olive oil
- 1/2 cup of fat free chicken broth
- 4 tsp. of crushed red chili pepper
- 4 tbsp of Parmesan cheese, to serve
Directions
- First things first, get a pot of salted water boiling to prepare to cook the pasta.
- Chop up onion and garlic and set aside. Add olive oil to a hot frying pan.
- Slice open sausages to remove casing. Add sausage to the frying pan and use a spatula to keep break it up.
- Add onions and garlic while sausage is browning. At this point, your water should be boiled, and you should cooked your pasta for 10-12 minutes, depending on how you like it.
- Season sausage and onions with salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc. to taste.
- Once sausage and onions are cooked through, add can of tomatoes and chicken broth. Add 4 tsp. of crushed red pepper flakes while you’re at it.
- Bring mixture to a boil and then simmer until it reduces into a thicker sauce.
- Add bag of spinach and arugula to sausage mixture and mix until wilted.
- Strain pasta and add to the sausage mixture. Stir until completely coated
- Serve hot with parmesan cheese.
Note: If sauce seems to be too thin, reduce and add a bit of cornstarch to thicken it up! It’s just tomato gravy, after all.