This recipe is delicious, easy and cheap, the three magic words for me. The total cook time was under 30 minutes, as promised, and the results were tasty!
My husband is a strict meat-and-potatoes kind of guy so I was admittedly a little hesitant to offer it up; however, in support of our “Cook At Home” effort, he agreed to give it a shot. And he loved this dish. Like, “two full bowls” loved it!
The sauce isn’t a typical tomato sauce but had a lot of great flavors, especially with the spicy Italian sausage we used.
Cost per serving: $1.21
Yield: Serves 6
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 8 ounces hot or sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings
- 1 15-oz can diced tomatoes, with juice
- Salt
- 1 pound orecchiette or pasta shells
- 4 cups small broccoli florets (from one head)
- Shredded Parmesan (optional)
I made a few adjustments:
- Instead of chopping up fresh garlic, I used the pre-chopped kind from a jar. As a result, the garlic didn’t need to saute as long and the flavor didn’t seem to be impacted.
- I highly recommend going with the hot Italian sausage. It adds a great kick!
- At the grocery store, I found these wonderful diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano by Hunt’s.
- I couldn’t find orecchiette pasta at the store so we used some wheel-shaped pasta. Next time, I might try orzo but, really, bowtie or angel hair might work just as well.
- I used frozen broccoli florets, which were deliciously crisp when cooked according to the recipe. (The bag had been sitting on the counter while we were cooking so they weren’t straight from the freezer.)
Preparation:
Warm oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add sausage and cook, breaking up with a wooden spoon, until it loses its pink color, about 6 minutes. Add tomatoes with their juice and 1/4 tsp. salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until most of juice has evaporated and sauce has thickened, about 10 minutes.
While sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Stir in pasta and cook according to package label directions. In last 2 minutes of cooking time, stir in broccoli and continue to cook until pasta is al dente and broccoli is tender. Drain, return to pot and toss with sauce. Serve immediately, with shredded Parmesan on the side, if desired.
Nutritional Information (based on original recipe):
- Calories: 471
- Fat: 15g (sat 4g)
- Protein: 18g
- Carbohydrate: 66g
- Fiber: 4g
- Cholesterol: 29mg
- Sodium: 799mg
- (All You magazine FEBRUARY 2011)
