February has flown by! January is always forever long and then February just goes by in the blink of an eye. Which is kinds of sad because February is my birthday month.
That’s ok. We have one extra day this year. Haha!
Anyway, today I’m bringing you another delicious pasta recipe – creamy mushroom and sausage and penne! I’ve seriously been bitten by the cooking bug again and have a ton of recipes that I tested, shot, and are now waiting in the queue to share with all of you.
I’m so happy I got my mojo back. Now I’m just hoping that I can keep it up.
I would love to share them within days of being photographed, and it’s something I’m working towards, but I still haven’t figured out how to do that yet with all the other things I have on my plate. And also figure out what to write with all these recipes.
Writing has never been my strong suite. I have to really sit down and force myself to get words out. It’s kind of annoying but something I’m working my way through. If only I were as good at writing as I was making and photographing.
But I digress…
Today’s recipe is another super simple one. It would almost be a one pot meal if you didn’t need to cook the pasta while you were making the sauce.
Actually, come to think about it, you could cook the pasta first then drain it then cook the sauce in the same pan. It would take a little more time that way but then you wouldn’t have to dirty two pots.
So start by cooking the pasta to al dente, then draining and setting aside. You can add a little butter or oil to the pasta so it doesn’t stick together while you make the sauce.
While the pasta is cooking, or after, cook the onion and garlic over medium-high heat in a large Dutch oven. You just want the onion to start tuning translucent.
Add the sausage and stir to break apart and mix in with the onions and garlic. For this I used sweet Italian sausage but if you want it a little spicy, which my husband would love, you can use spicy sausage or add a few crushed red pepper flakes.
Once the sausage is cooked, add the sliced mushrooms and cook just until they start to wilt. Add the wine, heavy cream, half & half then bring to a boil.
We’re going to reduce the sauce for about 20 minutes for a nice even consistency and to make it beautifully velvety. Add the cooked pasta to the pot and stir everything to combine and coat the pasta with the sauce.
Let it simmer for about 4-5 more minutes to warm the pasta through but not too long or you’ll have soggy pasta; and we don’t want that.
Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the parmesan cheese and fresh chopped parsley. Serve with extra garnish of parsley, if desired, and another sprinkling of parmesan cheese.
You can never have enough cheese!
Creamy Mushroom & Sausage Penne
Ingredients
- 3 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1/2 medium yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 1/2 lbs sweet Italian sausage
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms sliced
- 1 cup white wine
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup half & half
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 lb penne pasta
- 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley chopped
- 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese divided
Instructions
- Heat a medium pot of water to boiling and add pasta. Cook according to package directions, until al dente. Drain pasta and set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 5-6 minutes; until onion is translucent and garlic is fragrant.
- Add sausage; stir to combine and break apart sausage; cook for additional 5-7 minutes until sausage is browned and cooked through.
- Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. cook for about 1-2 minutes; stirring frequently.
- Pour in wine, heavy cream, and half & half and bring to boil; stir in tomato paste.
- Lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes until sauce has thickened.
- Add reserved pasta to the pot and stir to combine all ingredients and coat pasta. Simmer for additional 5 minutes for sauce to absorb into pasta.
- Remove from heat and stir in parsley and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese.
- Serve immediately, topped evenly with additional Parmesan cheese.
