Creamy Sausage Penne

Submitted by Lennie

"This luscious pasta dish is one I've avoided making recently; it's not exactly a lowfat dinner and I feel guilty serving it to my husband -- neither of us should be eating such a high calorie meal. But it's so, so good! Even though I can't claim it's part of a healthy diet, I hope you try it at least once -- it's a fast, easy dish, after all! I serve this with a simple green salad."

 

• Ready In: 30mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 1 lb penne pasta (fusilli or ziti could also be used, but I prefer penne)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil (preferably extra-virgin)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 lb sweet mild Italian sausage
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 3⁄4 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1⁄4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (cut into small bits)
• 1⁄2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the penne until al dente; drain well and do NOT rinse.
2. After you put the water on to boil, remove sausage meat from the casings, crumble, and set aside.
3. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.
4. Add garlic and cayenne and saute for approximately 30 seconds, then add sausage meat to skillet.
5. Cook until sausage meat is no longer pink (about 5 minutes or so).
6. Add cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg to skillet and turn heat to high to bring mixture to a boil.
7. Reduce heat and simmer, gently, until the cream reduces and the sauce thickens a bit; it takes about 10 minutes.
8. Place cooked penne in a large serving bowl (it's nice if you warm it first) and pour sauce over; add butter and cheese to bowl and combine all well.
9. Taste; add more salt and/or pepper if you wish.
10. Sprinkle chopped herbs over top and serve.

Reviews

[emily in massachuse]

This dish was fantastic. I added more garlic, becasue we love it here, and did not have cayenne, but substitued chili powder. Also, I am a vegetarian, so I used seitan instead of traditional sausage and added about 1/4 cup of red onion in with the garlic. It was awesome!!!!

 

[mqulemom]

Delicious! I added a little more basil and a swirl of EVOO at the end. A new family favorite!

 

[Lgerebi]

Our family really likes this recipe. It isn't low fat, but some fat is good... right. I also made for a family that needed a meal. They loved it and asked for the recipe! It was a great left-over!

 

[Primordial]

Very nice, quick weekday dinner. Will definitely be working some of these calories off tomorrow, but it was worth it. Thanks Lennie! (Btw Jacelya, Italians are very fond of nutmeg and often pair it with cream in sauces or desserts. It's also often used with spinach or squash.)

 

[Chef Erfolg]

You can only eat this about once a year unless you want coronary artery disease but... dang it was good. Get out the stints, doc! I'm goin' back in!