A rope of smoked sausage is something good to keep on hand – then you know you can always come up with a good meal! I didn’t have any other protein thawed out, today, so something with sausage was on the menu. Pasta seemed like as good a meal as anything – you know I love some pasta!

I had some fresh broccoli that I had vacuum sealed and stored in the freezer several weeks back, so I decided to use that. I also had some roasted red peppers and thought that would work as well. And, I’ll never argue against a creamy sauce.

I started by dicing the onions and slicing the sausage (I also chipped the red peppers but I have no photographic proof of that).

A couple days ago, I fried some bacon and had some bacon grease that I held onto and decided to use it in this dish. I used about a tablespoon of the bacon fat to sauté the onions and garlic. I added salt and red pepper flakes to the sautéing onions and garlic.

Then I added in the sausage and allowed it to brown, stirring occasionally (don’t cover or you’ll have trouble getting a sear on the sausage).

Once the sausage was browned, I added in the liquids to create the cream sauce. I used beef stock, since that is what I had in the refrigerator – but, any stock would do. I brought the mixture up to a boil, to allow it to thicken (if you want it a little thicker, you could make a simple slurry to thicken it).

I added in the steamed broccoli and red peppers and mixed the veggies in with the sauce.

I added in the pasta and mixed everything well. You don’t have to, but I added some romano cheese (I didn’t measure it, just grate it on top of the sauce – maybe 2 tbsp or so) and stirred through.

I topped with extra Romano cheese when serving.

Sausage, Broccoli and Red Pepper Pasta

1 pack smoked sausage (14 oz rope), sliced
1 lb box of penne pasta
1/2 onion, diced
2-3 cups fresh broccoli, steamed
6 oz roasted red peppers
1 cup stock
3/4 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
1 tbsp bacon fat
1 tsp salt
Romano cheese (optional)

• Boil pasta, as per directions (to al dente) and set aside
• Slice sausage
• Dice onions and chop red peppers
• In a large skillet, melt bacon fat
• Saute onions and garlic
• Add in the sausage and cook til browned
• Add in the stock and heavy cream, bring to a boil
• Add in broccoli and red peppers
• Add in cooked pasta and stir through
• Top with Romano cheese, if desired