This pasta with broccoli, mushrooms, and chicken sausage recipe is based on a recipe invented by Kimberly Chapman (from Eat the Evidence; she makes astonishing desserts and “Ace of Cakes” cakes too).
She had this wonderful English, locally raised bacon and fresh asparagus and decided to make pasta with it (her recipe is here).
It looked so good I wanted to try it. But I didn’t have bacon (or asparagus). I could have gone out and bought asparagus, but I’m not a huge asparagus fan, unless it’s drenched in Hollandaise sauce. I did have some chicken sausage and frozen broccoli though. So, I decided to follow her technique while changing the ingredients a bit.
I used chicken sausage instead of bacon, kept the mushrooms, added red bell pepper (as I had part of a pepper leftover from something else and had to use it up). Then, I changed the cheese to Manchego instead of parmesan, because that’s also what I had on hand.
Tip:
When your chunk of parmesan, Manchego, or other hard cheese gets hard to grate with a box grater, use a microplane instead. You can also save the rinds (or even buy them at the market) and use them for soup. Just put them in a plastic bag in the fridge. They’ll keep indefinitely.
Back to the recipe, you essentially, cook the sausage (or bacon), add the veggies, then the pasta, some chicken broth, and top it all with grated cheese.
Pasta with Sausage, Broccoli, Mushrooms, and Peppers
Pasta with broccoli, sausage, red peppers, and mushrooms. A quick and easy dinner for one.
Notes
You can use regular sausage instead of chicken sausage; if you do, you'll need less olive oil. Mix and match the ingredients to suit your own taste. Vary the veggies, go back to bacon, or skip the meat and use vegetable broth to make it vegetarian.
Ingredients
- 1/4 long pasta (such as spaghetti)
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 link chicken sausage, cut into one inch chunks
- 2 large mushrooms, sliced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 C frozen broccoli
- 1/4 C red bell pepper, cut in chunks
- 1/4 C chicken broth
- 2T grated Manchego (or parmesan cheese)
Instructions
- Fill a medium size saucepan with water and bring to a boil.
- Add the pasta, and cook until al dente (about 10) minutes.
- While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large frying pan.
- Cook sausage, turning occasionally, about 10 minutes.
- Remove the sausage from the pan, but don't wipe the pan.
- Add mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and cook five minutes until they start to brown.
- Put the frozen broccoli into the pan and cook, stirring for 2-3 minutes..
- Pour in the chicken broth, and let the mixture cook a minute or two.
- Add the red pepper.
- Once the pasta is ready, drain it and add to the frying pan, tossing with tongs to combine all the ingredients.
- Grate the cheese over the pasta mixture and serve.
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