One Dish Meal - Chicken Apple Sausage and Pasta

This is one of those meals that I whip together if I forgot to defrost anything. I almost always have some type of sausage in my freezer that is already cooked and just needs to be reheated. One of my favorite is Aidell's Chicken Apple Sausage; it has a light, smoky flavor and works well cooked with several types of vegetables. (My other favorite use for these sausages is for pigs-in-blankets appetizers but we will discuss those another time.)

If my sausages are frozen, I place four sausage links in a skillet with about 1/2 cup of water; cover them and turn the burner to medium-high. This will defrost them quickly and I will only have to cool them enough to slice them to toss with the vegetable saute.

Next, I set a large pan of water to boil for pasta. My favorite shape to use with this is a bowtie pasta a.k.a. Farfalle. I will use a bit over a half pound of the Farfalle. I give myself about 5-10 minutes for the pasta water to start boiling and another 10 minuts for the pasta to cook. The vegetable saute will be the "hardest" part of the prep for this meal.

The first step is to scope out my vegetable options; I find onion, garlic, broccoli, zucchini, spinach, crimini mushrooms, tomatoes, etc. I can use any combination of these but I choose the following:

• half of a small, onion - thinly sliced;
• 1 clove of garlic - finely chopped/minced;
• 5-6 crimini mushrooms - thinly sliced;
• 2 cups broccoli - cut into bite-sized pieces and steamed.

I set the burner to medium-high under a large skillet with a bit more than a tablespoon of olive oil (add more if needed). When the oil starts to smoke, I add the onion and saute it for 1-2 minutes until it starts to become translucent. I then add the garlic and when the smell starts to rise up from the pan, I add the mushrooms. As the mushrooms are cooking, I slice the sausage into bite-sized pieces. Just as the onion, garlic and mushroom mixture starts to brown I carefully add about 1/4 of white wine. (Alternatively, you can add broth but I like how the wine cooks away. You don't want very much liquid at all.)

Just as the wine starts to cook away (and it will happen quickly) I add the sliced, chicken apple sausage and the steamed, broccoli and stir it all together. At this point, turn off the burner, cover and set the saute to the side. If you pasta is cooked already, drain it, put it in a large serving bowl with 1-2 tablespoons of butter (this is optional but it adds a bit of richness to the sauce. Alternatively, use a vegan, heart healthy substitute like Earthbalance if you love butter like I do you honestly won't notice the difference.) Add the vegetable and sausage to the pasta and toss it all together. Then bring to the table so everyone can help themselves. I typically serve with bread and cheese as a side.

This recipe is typically enough for us to have a serving plus a bit extra for dinner and then enough for two lunches the next day.