Italian Sausage, Pepper & Onion Pasta

I'm not quite sure what will happen this weekend. I live pretty far west in Northern New Jersey but as they have been saying all morning, the models can't exactly pinpoint which direction it will go once it hits land. According to The Weather Channel, there is one blue line that goes right over my house.

If Irene decides she's tired of swimming, she will hit the dirt and then I am in big do-do.

We have a spanking new generator sitting in my shed, which The Nudge never filled with gasoline and started, so I know what we will be doing tomorrow morning.

If we get a lot of insane rain we can say bye-bye to the freezer, washing machine, dryer and heater. Bye-bye to my pantry, all our tools and a lot of paper products. We will try to bring the important stuff upstairs.

My old GE Electric Hotpoint oven coil went POP Tuesday while baking muffins for my Dad. The stove works and it is still grill season so I am not in a panic. I think the best thing to do is to wait till after this storm blows over.

Why have a new stove you can't use if the power is off?

Tonight I am making an old favorite standby pasta dish, that never fails to satisfy and can be cooked on the stove.

I have a bag of frozen homemade whole wheat pasta fettucine that will be perfect with this dish.



Italian Sausage, Pepper and Onion Pasta
makes 4 servings
* 1/2 pound homemade whole wheat pasta (dried will do fine)
* 3 hot Italian chicken sausage links, casings removed or sliced
* 1/2 red pepper, julienned
* 1/2 sweet onion, frenched
* 3 cloves garlic, sliced
* 2 tablespoons of white wine
* 1 small can Muir Glen Fire Roasted chopped tomatoes
* 1 cup broccoli florets, optional

Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil pasta and broccoli in the same water. Reserve 1 cup pasta water and drain pasta and broccoli.

Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in saute pan and cook sausage meat until browned. Remove to a paper towel lined plate and drain off the fat.

Add another teaspoon of oil to pan and add garlic, onions and peppers. Cook until softened slightly. Season with salt & pepper.
Add sausage back to pan and deglaze with white wine and cook off for a minute or two.
Throw in the can of tomatoes and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add pasta and broccoli to peppers and onions and toss to combine. Add enough pasta water to create a slight sauce. Turn off the heat and add the cheese.

Serve immediately.

No broccoli? No problem. The onions, red peppers and tomatoes are enough of a vegetable to make this meal complete but the broccoli or a side salad is a nice addition.