I love pasta.  Everyone loves pasta.  It’s easy to make and there’s countless variations to keep it interesting and fresh.  I make a pasta dish about once a week for my family.  Many times it’s on Monday when we have a busy after-school schedule and I need something easy but still yummy.

The other day I had some chicken apple sausage in the fridge and some freshly picked sage a friend gave me.  I had garlic and shallots and pasta and frozen peas.  I had freshly shaved parmesan.  I knew I could come up with something with all those delicious ingredients.

As the years have passed and I’ve become more comfortable in the kitchen (a lot more comfortable, in fact), I’ve started creating my own recipes.  I might look up another similar recipe to fine-tune cooking temps and times, but I really have started to enjoy putting together my own ingredients and flavors.  For the most part, it has worked.

So, here I am with all these fabulous, simple ingredients.  The following is the recipe I created that was a pretty big hit for the family.  My 11 year old daughter said she prefers the sausage a bit more crispy on the outside (like when I bake it with veggies).  I might let it sit in the pan a bit longer to caramelize next time. But everyone enjoyed it and went back for more.

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tablespoon butter

12 oz chicken apple sausage (or your sausage of choosing)

2 Tablespoons ribboned fresh sage (keep it in the freezer to use all year)

4 garlic cloves, minced

1-2 shallots, sliced

1 lb pasta (we had some fall themed pasta from Cost Plus World Market)

1 cup frozen peas

Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD:

Heat olive oil and butter in a skillet till shimmering

Add sage and fry  until crispy.  Remove from pan for later.

Add shallots and sausage and sauté until shallots are soft, add garlic.

Meanwhile, boil pasta according to package instructions, adding the peas in the last minute of cook time.

Drain pasta/peas and return to the pan with sausage and shallots.  Add crispy sage.

Top with freshly shaved parmesan.