Punched Up Penne w/Sausage

Punched Up Penne with Smoked Turkey Sausage

 

Can you Punch up your Penne while lowering the calories and fat? Well, I tried. So check this out! But first, Penne brings up a rather regular 'funny' from the Big Bang Theory. I'm referring to Sheldon and Penny. Remember this: Penny's Door. Now, on to Punched Up Penne with Sausage. :))

It was time for some pasta, so this is my little take on Spicy Sausage Pasta presented by Maggie on her blog A Bitchin' Kitchen. Trying to cut back on calories and fat content of various dishes presents a host of options and challenges. Quite often minor changes can render a recipe, well let's just say, less than desirable. However, the changes I'm offering for this tasty pasta dish worked very well, or at least I think so! First, I used a whole grain penne pasta. Second, fat-free Half & Half was substituted for heavy cream. Third, a low-fat cheddar-jack cheese was used instead of Monterey-Jack cheese. These were the big hitters, but I also used reduced fat turkey sausage and fat-free chicken broth. For me, this is a keeper!

Let's Try It!

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 14 oz. package smoked turkey sausage (I used Jennie-O reduced fat.)
• 1 1/2 c. diced onion
• 2 minced garlic cloves (I buy the little jars of minced garlic which saves a few minutes.)
• 2 c. low sodium fat-free chicken broth
• 1 10 oz. can Ro-Tel Diced Tomatoes & Green Chiles, original style (These are so good!)
• 1/2 c. fat-free Half & Half
• 8 oz. uncooked whole grain penne pasta, which is about 2 1/2 c.
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 1/2 c. shredded reduced fat Cheddar-Jack cheese
• thinly sliced scallions, to taste ( I used about 3 medium.)
• salt, to taste

Preparation:

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in cast iron skillet(or other oven safe skillet), until lightly smoking.
2. Slice sausage. Add sausage & onion to skillet & cook until lightly browned. Stir occasionally.
3. Add garlic to sausage/onion mixture, stirring and cook for about 30 seconds.







4. Add broth, Ro-Tel tomatoes, Half & Half, pasta, pepper and mix well.
5. Bring mixture to a boil, cover skillet & reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for about 15 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Stirring occasionally.
6. Heat the oven/broiler while pasta is simmering. I set mine to about 350 ˚.

7. When pasta cooks, remove skillet from heat, stir in 1 c. of cheese. Taste & season to taste with salt/pepper.
8. Top pasta mixture with remaining cheese & scallions. Broil/bake until cheese is melted & slightly brown. Just 3-5 minutes.






We loved this pasta dish. The Ro-Tel Tomatoes gives it just the punch it needed. Toss a little fresh side salad and add a few bread sticks for a great one dish meal! Enjoy

Enjoy! WildWSS outta here!