Pinterest Win: Spicy Sausage Pasta

One of the greatest parts of meal planning this year has been the recipes we've discovered to be our new regulars. This one is absolutely one of them!

To be honest, this may now be one of my favorite recipes of all time. The variable levels of spice (depending on the level of heat in the Rotel you use) just make this perfect for anyone, really. Looking at the picture now makes me drool!

I found the recipe on pinterest linking to the website Kevin & Amanda, which they found in This cookbook.

The recipe link can be found here: recipe link

But as usual, I'm always nervous that one day someone will clean house and take away the recipe, so I want to have it here just in case!

The only changes I made to the recipe was to use penne pasta simply because I didn't have campanelle noodles (but really, you can use whatever you want to) and I used regular smoked sausage instead of turkey sausage.

I'm not going to do a step-by-step here, because Kevin & Amanda do it SOOOOOOOOO much better (so check them out...seriously), but I will list the basic recipe here for future reference :)

Spicy Sausage Pasta

4 servings
Recipe from: kevinandamanda.com

1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb smoked sausage
1.5 cups diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 (10 oz) can Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chiles, Mild
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 oz penne pasta
1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper, each
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions

1. Add olive oil to an oven-safe skillet over medium high heat until just smoking. Add sausage and onions and cook until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

2. Add broth, tomatoes, cream, pasta, salt and pepper and stir. Bring to a boil, cover skillet, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer until pasta is tender, about 15 minutes.

3. Remove skillet from heat and stir in 1/2 cup cheese. Top with remaining cheese and sprinkle with scallions. Broil until cheese is melted, spotty brown, and bubbly.

RAVE - "Clean"? Alfredo Sauce

If you weren't aware, in the past 6 weeks, I've done 2 bouts of a special 10-Day Cleanse program that my good buddy, Beth Young, put me (and some other ladies) up to. In those 20 days (separated by a good 3 weeks), I've dropped 9lbs, and feel pretty great! The struggle, however, has been trying to find recipes to make that don't taste like "clean" recipes.

I'm ecstatic to have found a great blog with lots of great recipes for "clean" stuff! I found this particular recipe while searching for a great, "clean", healthy alfredo sauce. I know you're thinking, "Humdawg, you're delusional - alfredo is in no way, shape or form 'clean'", and you're right! But this...this is!

So here is this incredible recipe, thanks to Tiffany from www.thegraciouspantry.com. Of course, I modified it to use ingredients I normally have on hand (basil, fresh garlic).

Ingredients:

1 lg container cottage cheese * (she recommends 4C)
1/2 C Kraft parmesan and romano cheese *
I did not add the milk or garlic powder as Tiffany did.
I did add chopped fresh basil and minced garlic to taste.


*I was supposed to use the organic kind, but I'll admit that my small-town grocery store didn't carry any, so I bought the non-organic stuff, which makes the recipe a little less "clean".

Directions:

You combine all the ingredients in a double-boiler (or in my case, a metal bowl on top of a pot of boiling water, and let it all melt together, using a hand-mixer to diminish the cottage cheese chunks. You can't let it heat too fast or the cottage cheese will separate, which would be gross. I think had I added the milk, it might not have been quite so stringy when I blended it, but it was INCREDIBLE, and reheated just fine as well.

I poured this over some penne pasta with grilled chicken sauteed with mushrooms, onions and broccoli. It was better than any entree I've had at Olive Garden - better than any alfredo sauce I've had that I can recall, and it's BETTER for you than any alfredo sauce too!

I apologize, yet again, for the lack of pictures, but the good news is they are working on my lens!! Hopefully it will be back soon!