Pasta with Creamy Tomato and Sausage Sauce

Pasta with Creamy Tomato and Sausage Sauce
Adapted from Kathleen Hulsy, Biddeford, ME, Bon Appetit Magazine

This pasta dish is so delicious! It's rich, comforting and full of flavor. Tastes like a pasta dish you would order in a restaurant. Definitely a great dish to impress your guest. I don't make this dish often, but there are times when I can't think of what to cook and I need to cook something easy and fast. This is one of those dishes I never get tired of making.

One 1-pound package of Jennie-O Lean Sweet Italian Turkey Sausages, casings removed
3 large shallots, finely chopped (5.4 ounces)
3 large garlic cloves, minced (0.7 ounce)
1 cup PLAIN heavy whipping cream (8 ounces)
Two 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes, UNDRAINED
1 tablespoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
3/4 pound whole-wheat fettuccine, linguine, or spaghetti (12 ounces)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (2 ounces)

Heat a large deep skillet over high heat. When skillet is hot, add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan. Add the turkey sausages and cook until browned, stirring frequently and breaking up sausages into small pieces while browning. Transfer to a colander to drain. Set aside.

Lower heat to medium-high heat and immediately add the shallots and garlic to the pan. Add more olive oil if needed. Saute for 2 minutes until shallots are softened.

Add turkey sausages back to the pan and saute for 1 minute.

Add the heavy cream. When the cream starts bubbling heavily, lower heat to medium-low heat to simmer for about 5 minutes, until cream is thickened and reduced by half. May have to adjust your heat anywhere from medium-low to low heat, depending on your stove, but keep heavy cream at a simmer.

Increase heat to medium-high heat. Add the diced tomatoes with their juices, sage and crushed red peppers. When mixture starts bubbling heavily, lower heat to medium-low heat to simmer for about 15 minutes, uncovered. Cook until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally and smashing the tomatoes against the sides of the pan to release more juices. Again, you may have to adjust your heat anywhere from medium-low to low heat, depending on your stove, but keep the sauce at a simmer.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water according to package directions: under cook the pasta by 2 minutes.

Add the pasta to the sausage-tomato sauce, Toss over medium heat until sauce evely coats the pasta. Toss in the Parmesan cheese and ready to serve. No salt is necessary for  this dish. You can just add ground black pepper if desired. 

Serve with more Parmesan cheese if desired.

Yields 4 to 6 servings