Sausage and Bow Tie Pasta with Pink Sauce

What a simple, easy and quick meal this was to prepare. The combination of the flavors from the Italian sausage, the red sauce, the Parmesan cheese, the half and half and chicken broth gives this dish such wonderful flavor. You'll want to make this dish often!

If you have been following my blog and cooking my recipes, you know that I am all about looking for food items I already have on hand. Having a small container of sauce left in the freezer, some half and half and boxed chicken stock in the refrigerator and some grated Parmesan cheese, as well as a partial box of bow tie pasta in the pantry was how this dish was conceived. If you consider your pantry, refrigerator and freezer when trying to come up with what to cook, you can cook low budget style.

The sausage I bought on sale (around 3 lbs.) at $2.59 per pound. It was a store made hot Italian sausage. The package had 10 long links, so for 3 of us (all adults) I cooked four links. The rest I wrapped up for another meal and put it in the freezer.So the meal cost was $2.32.

• Italian Sausage (hot preferably - but use sweet if you don't like hot, or a blend of both)
• bow tie pasta - about 1/4 to 1/3 of the box
• 1/2 cup red sauce (spaghetti, marinara or canned tomato puree)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup approximately half and half cream
• salt and pepper to taste

In a deep skillet preheated over moderate heat, brown the sausage on all sides - this takes about three minutes per side. Remove the sausage to a plate and turn the heat down to low. Add in the chicken broth and scrap all of the good bits from around the pan.

1. Turn the heat back up to medium and reduce the chicken stock for around 5 minutes. Add in 2/3 cup of the red sauce and stir. Again, turn the heat back to low and add in the half and half, the Parmesan cheese and mix well. Turn this down to a simmer.
2. In the meantime, have a pot of boiling water ready and cook your pasta to the manufacturer's suggestions. It takes about 11-12 minutes.
3. Next, add in the sausage to the skillet along with a pinch of black pepper, stir and cover and cook the sausage for about 20 minutes on a simmer while your pasta is cooking.
4. When the pasta is ready, drain and add to the pan. Fold in the pasta and when you have the pasta coated with the sauce, you are ready to serve.

Please Note: Depending on how many people you are feeding, double the above ingredients to be sure you have plenty of sauce, sausage and pasta. We actually ended up with enough to feed four people based on this recipe.

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