Italian Sausage Penne

This dish was supposed to be "Italian Sausage Rigatoni", a recipe I found in the March 2011 issue of Food Network Magazine. The recipe was actually an ad for Johnsonville Sausage, and since we are addicted to love sausages, we decided to give it a try. Oh, and I changed the "Rigatoni" to "Penne" because that was the type of pasta I had in my pantry. It is important, though, to have at least the same shape of noodles when substituting, especially since different kinds of noodles have different uses. In this case, thick and heavy sauces tend to stick more to ridged or big noodles.

I must say, the secret of this dish is grilling the sausage. It gives a somewhat "charcoal-y" flavor to the meat, and it went very well with the pasta. So good!


What you need:

1 pkg (19.76 oz) Italian Mild Sausage
about 2 to 3 cups penne pasta
3 tablespoon olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 large red bell pepper, chunked
1 jar (26 oz) of your favorite pasta sauce
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped


What to do: 

Grill sausages for about 4-5 minutes per side, until golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes total. Cool for a couple of minutes, then coin (slice diagonally in rounds).

Cook the penne according to package directions. Keep warm. Meanwhile, place olive oil and garlic in a large pan over medium heat and saute for 30 seconds. Add the peppers and cook until crisp-tender, about 2 minutes.

Combine cooked sausage and pasta sauce with peppers and heat until warm.  Mix with the pasta or serve separately. Top with fresh parsley and serve warm.


Tips, Tricks and Tweaks: 

1. Use 2 teaspoons of dried parsley if you don't have fresh.
2. Don't like grilled sausage? You can also cook them in a skillet!
3. You can also use the spicy sausage variety, but the mild Italian will give you the perfect balance of heat and savory for this dish.