Turkey Sausage and Peppers Pasta

It's early morning on Father's Day and of course I woke up thinking of food. Specifically about what dish could I blog about this morning that would be a manly enough dish to represent, this all man-day, Father's Day. I'm sure my husband would prefer this blog to be about steak and potatoes but unfortunately we rarely eat steak because of the price of beef. (Remember, we live in California on one income.) :) So I had to be resourceful. Pasta's always crowd-pleasing and this is a recipe I'm positive men, women and kids will love. It's utterly delicious and the hour long cooking time of the sauce allows the smoky flavor of the sausage to permeate the sauce and mellows the bell peppers into a sublime pasta sauce like no other. 

This recipe came about as a 'by accident on purpose' kind of meal because I didn't have any meat thawed for dinner one night. With hungry kids and a hard working hungry husband, I asked myself, "What thaws quickly in a pinch?" I searched deep in the freezer and I came up with some Smoked Turkey sausage I'd bought on sale a week prior. It was less than $2.00 for a pound. I also had some bell peppers and onions on hand and started to throw this dish together. I served it with a green salad but with the hour long cooking of the sauce, I also served some cheese and crackers to hold the kiddos and hubby over. Definitely don't skimp on the cooking time with this sauce, it's worth the simmer-time.

I'll let the recipe speak for itself and let me know how you like it. :)

Happy Father's Day!

Turkey Sausage and Peppers Pasta
Serves 4-6

16 oz. Smoked Turkey Sausage, sliced
1 cup onion, diced
1 cup green bell pepper, diced 
1 cup of red and yellow bell peppers, diced (or any combination on hand)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
1-15.5 oz can of Tomato Puree or 1 can of Diced Tomatoes, undrained
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup red wine
1 t dried basil
2 T Prepared Pesto
1 T unsalted butter
salt and pepper to taste

2 cups dried mini bow-tie pasta or any small pasta, cooked

Preparing the Sauce:
Prepare all vegetables and slice turkey sausage into thin rounds. In a large
skillet or a medium-sized dutch oven, add onions, peppers and garlic with olive oil and saute for about 5 minutes.  

Add Sausage.

Add tomato puree, chicken broth, wine and basil and stir and heat on med to low heat for 1 hour. 

 This is what the sauce looks like after a half an hour. Almost there... You can cook the pasta anytime during the last half hour, drain and set aside.

After an hour the sauce will be thick and super flavorful. (If it gets too thick, you can add more chicken stock to thin it as needed.) 

After an hour of cooking time, finish the sauce off by adding the 2T of a prepared pesto and the pat of butter and serve over cooked pasta. 

The butter and pesto add a complexity of flavor that really completes the sauce. If you don't have any pesto, for sure add the real butter to finish it off, you will not be disappointed. Enjoy!