Italian Sausage Pasta!

Another food my family absolutely loves is pasta - in fact, one kiddo would eat nothing but pasta if we would let her! Over the years I've played around with different pasta recipes and have finally developed this recipe to what it is now. I particularly like it because it's a fresh pasta dish that doesn't take hours to make and also is good on the budget. The sweet Italian sausage compliments the sweet of the basil and grape tomatoes to make your taste buds jump with joy! This dish is so popular at my house, it just happens to be one of the requests for dinner for the next kiddo's birthday. Make this the next time your family wants homemade pasta and they'll be sure to ask for it again and again!

What's cooking in my kitchen this week:
Italian sausage pasta

What you'll need:
2 lbs sweet Italian sausage
1 1/2 boxes (16 oz each) dried pasta
1 package (10 oz) grape tomatoes
1 package (.66 oz) basil
1 shallot
3-4 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded Italian blend cheese

How to make it:
First, put a big pot of water on the stove to boil; put 1 Tbsp oil and 1 tsp salt in water, this will season the noodles and keep them from sticking together. Next, you'll need to finely dice the shallot and mince the cloves of garlic. Put into separate small bowls and set aside once done.

Next, take the grape tomatoes and cut in half, length-wise. Put in small bowl and set aside.

Cut up the basil by first doing chiffonade cut, then turn your knife to cut across, giving chopped pieces. Put in small bowl and set aside.

Brown Italian sausage in skillet. Once meat is cooked, remove from skillet, leaving the excess oil in the pan. 

Sauté shallots in oil from sausage on medium-high heat for 1-2 minutes, add minced garlic and sauté another 30 seconds. Put cut tomatoes in pan, cut side down. After about 2 minutes, take fork and smash the tomatoes down. Turn heat down to medium.

Once all the tomatoes are smashed, put in salt and ground black pepper. Continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes. By this point, water for the noodles should be boiling. Add noodles to water and  boil for 11-12 minutes, until noddles are tender. Add sausage back to skillet with tomatoes, shallot, and garlic. After noodles have been boiling for a few minutes, add 3-4 ladles of pasta water to skillet - this will help to make "sauce" for the dish. Add basil to pan and stir. Add cheese, a handful at a time and stir until incorporated.

Drain cooked noodles and put back in pot. Add sausage-tomato mixture to noodles and stir around. Cook on low heat for 1-2 minutes.

Serve with some Italian bread and top with cheese. Enjoy!

Did you know?
On this day in 1885, ‘Good Housekeeping’ magazine begins publication.  Founded by Clark W. Bryan, the magazine was purchased by Hearst publishing in 1911.