Creamy Pasta with Parmesan Italian Chicken Sausage

A little while ago I was contacted my Gold'n Plump and asked if they could send me a few samples of their new chicken sausages.  I said, "nah, that's okay, I hate free stuff."  Umm, just kidding.  I said hells yeah, send it over!  Or something like that.  

Last night I tried the Parmesan Italian Chicken Sausage and I have to say it is pretty stinking amazing.  It has tons of flavor without being overly spicy--kid friendly for those of you with little ones in the house.  My nieces would have loved this pasta or "noooodles" as they call it.  This really is a great weeknight meal since it came together in a matter of minutes as well.  

Be on the lookout as I'm going to be using a few other of their sausages in posts to come.  I'm looking forward to it since the sausage added so much to this dish.  

Here's the goods. I had these in the freezer to keep them fresh then defrosted them slowly in the microwave.  As you can see, they have less fat than traditional sausages and have no added hormones.  I heart Gold'n Plump

Okay, to work on the sausage, you will need to take the casing off.  Simply slice through the casing with a sharp knife and pull out the meat.  I rephrased that about 10 times and that's the only way I could word it.  Laugh all you want.

Pop the sausages into a large skillet.  I added a bit of canola oil because I wasn't sure if they would stick or not.  They didn't need the oil so you can skip that.

Brown the meat like you would ground beef.  Yeah, I know blurry picture, bear with me while I get used to my new camera. : )

Once the sausage is fully cooked, take it out and place it on a paper towel lined plate.

Dice up 1/2 of a red pepper (you will use it later) I actually did this while the meat was cooking--I'm a woman, I multitask. Hear me roar.

Add 1/2 an onion to the pan.

Let it cook up a bit then toss in 4 cloves of garlic.  Cook for about 2 minutes--be sure not to burn the garlic.

Toss in the red pepper and let it cook another minute or so.  I like the taste of fresh red pepper so I didn't cook the heck out of it.

Add some cream.  It is what I had on hand but I'm sure half and half or even fat free half and half would be just fine.

Bring it to a bubble.

Add some grated parmesan cheese.  Yes, I used the stuff in the green can--don't judge.

Let it bubble to thicken a bit.

Through the magic of the blog, noodle appear fully cooked.  Add them to the sauce.

Toss in the chicken sausage

Frozen peas.  No, you do not have to cook these before adding them, they cook in the sauce.

Stir it up and that's it!

Perfect weeknight pasta.

Top with additional parmesan cheese and a bit of parsley to fancy it up a bit. You know me + parm + parsley = love.

Come to Momma.

**Please note that Gold'n Plump gave me free samples (thank you) but the opinions are all my own, you can't by my love, baby**

Creamy Pasta with Chicken Sausage


1 package Gold'n Plump Parmesan Italian Chicken Sausages
1/2 onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/2 red pepper, chopped
2 cups cream or half and half
1 1/2 cups (or so) parmesan cheese + additional for garnish
1 lb penne pasta (or variety of your choice)
1 cup frozen peas
Parsley for garnish (optional)

Start by taking the casing off of the sausage, cut a long slit in the casing and pull out the meat.  Add this to a large skillet and cook as you would ground beef.  Once the sausage is fully cooked, remove from the pan and place on a paper towel lined plate.

**This is a good time to start boiling water for pasta**

Add the onion to the pan and cook for about 3 minutes.  After 3 minutes, add the garlic.  Cook for an additional 2 minutes.  Add the red pepper to the pan and cook for about a minute.

Add the cream to the skillet and bring to a slight bubble on medium heat.  Don't boil this.  Add the cheese once it comes to a bubble.  Stir and bring back to a slight bubble and let it thicken.

Add the cooked pasta, sausage and peas to the pan.  Toss to coat in the sauce.

To serve, plate the pasta and top with additional parmesan cheese and parsley.

Enjoy!

Recipe by: Mrs. Schwartz