Linguine with spinach-garlic sausage and pesto

1. Boil water with a pinch of salt. Add the pasta until al dente. Cool under running water. (or as instructed in package) Linguine might take longer to cook than spaghetti, but faster than fettuccine-considering the surface area.

I used this pack of sausage. Best not to eat too much processed meat.

2. Heat the sausage and cut diagonally into bite sized chunks. (I find they retain shapes this way more than cutting first and then cooking- if you cover and cook that is.) Optional: Add minced garlic, shallots and bell peppers to it when in a spray of olive oil. Some sun dried tomatoes and Parmesan shavings would be good addition too.

3. Add Alfredo sauce of your choice, 1-2 tsp of pesto (Best if home made). Let the sauce cook for a while, add the pasta, then the sausage. Stir and serve with garlic bread or jalapeno focaccia.

The pasta was so good, the sausages felt redundant.

Clean your palate with a scoop of Tiramisu gelato.

P.S. Found some gorgeous-looking, heavenly-smelling mangoes in an Indian grocery store. Have to make sticky rice with mango some day. Having one with Greek yogurt (with 5 live cultures- usually the more, the better)

For more pasta ideas click on the label 'pasta'

Sausage with cabbage

Ingredients:
Mild Italian sausage
Onions, quartered
Cabbage, shredded
Tomato, diced
Red dry chillies , broken
Herbs of your choice
Olive oil

Method:

1. Broil the sausage(if uncooked) in convection oven for about 15 minutes. Take out, cool and cut into thin slices.
2. In a wok, add a little olive oil, add quarted onion slices. Make sure the layers are seperated. Add the sausage if uncooked.
3. Add the cabbage- cook just right if you want it al dente. Overcooking will take the crunch away- it's your choice really. Add the tomatoes. Then add herbs of your choice- I like to sprinkle dried rosemary.

Soup version:
You can also make a soup version of this. Add water and diced potatoes in that case.

Variation:
You can add black peppercorn if you want to spice it up. A little soya sauce(adjust salt accordingly) can make a good variation. Diced bell peppers also go well with this dish. And whole garlic cloves for garlic lovers.

Goes well with cilantro pilaf or mushroom risotto. 

Sausage, Peppers and Onions