Penne with Sausage Cream Sauce

This Italian-style pasta dish is so good, your family will request it often—and it definitely ranks as company fare.

Recipe Ingredients:

1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2/3 cup dry white wine
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced peeled tomatoes, undrained
1 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley (flat leaf parsley)
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
12 ounces penne pasta, cooked according to package directions*
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus additional for garnish

Cooking Directions:

1. Cook sausage in large skillet over medium-high heat. Remove sausage; set aside.
2. Drain excess grease from skillet; melt butter and oil in skillet; add onion and sauté until softened and golden in color. Add garlic, cook and stir 1 minute. Add wine to skillet and reduce volume by half, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and simmer 3 minutes.
3. Return cooked sausage to skillet, add cream and simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Stir in parsley, salt and pepper.
4. Add the cooked penne and 1 cup Parmesan cheese to sauce in skillet and gently toss to combine (or place cooked penne in large serving bowl; pour sauce over pasta, add the Parmesan cheese and toss to combine).
5. Serve sprinkled with additional Parmesan cheese.

Makes 6 servings.

*Or substitute with another pasta such as farfalle (bow-tie) or conchiglioni (shell-shaped).

Nutritional Information Per Serving (1/8 of recipe; does not include Parmesan for garnish): 400.7 calories; 38% calories from fat; 17.1g total fat; 52.3mg cholesterol; 831.6mg sodium; 285.6mg potassium; 37.5g carbohydrates; 2.3g fiber; 2.1g sugar; 35.3g net carbs; 20.3g protein.

Recipe and photograph by Hope Cantil; Copyright © 1999; property of CooksRecipes.com. See Terms of Use.