Pasta dish quick and delicious
Sausages flavour many a dish and are particularly good when combined with vegetables. This economical one- pan meal comes from the new Canadian Living magazine cookbook called The Affordable Feasts Collection ( Transcontinental Books). The book is packed with easy, useful, economical recipes. Its chapter of pasta dishes should help many a hurried cook turn out a fast meal. If you don’t want to use sausage fat in the recipe, discard it and add two teaspoons of olive oil. The fusilli can be replaced by short pasta. Leeks may be replaced with onions, sliced thinly.
Sausage Leek Fusilli
¾ lb or 340 g ( 12 oz) fusilli pasta 2 mild Italian sausages ( 226 g or 8 oz), casings removed 2 tsp ( 10 mL) olive oil 2 large leeks, white and light green parts only, halved lengthwise, thinly sliced crosswise Salt and freshly ground pepper ¾ cup ( 180 mL) chicken broth 2 cups ( 500 mL) cherry tomatoes, halved ½ cup ( 125 mL) grated Parmesan cheese ¼ cup ( 60 mL) chopped fresh flatleaf parsley
Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling, salted water just until tender, al dente. Drain, reserving ½ cup ( 125 mL) of the pasta water.
In a large, heavy frying pan, cook sausage meat over medium- high heat, breaking it up with a fork, until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer meat to a bowl and set aside.
Drain all but 2 tsp ( 10 mL) fat from pan and cook leeks with salt and pepper over medium heat, stirring often, about 3 minutes.
Add chicken broth, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until leeks are tender but some liquid remains, about 5 minutes.
Add tomatoes, all but 2 tbsp ( 30 mL) of the cheese, parsley, half the sausage meat, and the pasta, stirring in the reserved pasta water as required to moisten the mixture.
Continue to cook, tossing, just until tomatoes soften slightly, about 2 minutes. Serve topped with remaining sausage meat and remaining cheese. Serve at once.
Serves 4