Weeknight Chicken Sausage Pasta

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Sometimes, you just don’t have enough time or energy to whip up a healthy, homemade meal. You come home from work, collapse on the couch, prop your shoes up on the coffee table and drift off into the world of Real Housewives marathons (team Vicki and Tamra 4ever).

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This pasta is for those times. It takes less than 20 minutes to whip up and I almost always have the ingredients on hand. This recipe also gives you a lot of pasta, so there are plenty of leftovers to take for lunches throughout the week.

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Did I mention there’s cheese involved? Let’s be real, I don’t think any of my recipes don’t involve cheese. But, a little bit goes a long way — this adds the gooey comfort we all adore without adding too many unnecessary calories.

Now, go get that water boiling so you can make it back to the couch just in time for the housewives’ claws to come out.

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Weeknight Chicken Sausage Pasta

Ingredients: 

  • 16 oz. pasta of choice
  • 1 lb. fully-cooked chicken Italian sausage, chopped into bite-size pieces (such as Al Fresco) 
  • 1 cup bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 cup red onion, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 cup freshly-shredded parmesan cheese
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/4 tsp. pepper

Directions:

  1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
  2. While pasta is cooking, add olive oil and garlic to a large skillet and sauté over medium-high heat until fragrant, about one minute.
  3. Add sausage, onion and bell pepper to skillet and cook until sausage is heated through and onion and pepper are soft — about four minutes.
  4. Drain pasta and add to skillet containing sausage, onion and pepper. Remove from heat and mix until combined.
  5. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and cheese.

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