I was married to an Italian for 25 years and that means I prepared a ton of pasta dishes with red sauce. But there are plenty of other ways to serve pasta and one of my favorites is with olive oil and chicken broth. My recipe for Sausage, Penne & Peas is a simple dish with plenty of flavor minus the heavy sauce.
Sausage, Penne & Peas
This recipe is something I threw together based off of my Spicy Chicken & Bowties which I still need to load on this blog. It’s basically the same thing, only this time I threw some fennel seed and basil into the mix, and instead of chicken I’m using Italian sausage.
Instead of canned tomatoes or tomato sauce, I use sun-dried tomatoes and red pepper flakes for plenty of flavor and a bit of spice. I love this dish for its simplicity and it makes a great lunch the next day!
Ingredients for Sausage, Penne & Peas
- 5 sweet Italian Sausage links (about 1 pound)
- 1 pound penne pasta
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
- 2 scallions, sliced
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp dried basil
- 1 tsp fennel seed
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 10 ounces frozen peas
- Salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste
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I hoe you get a change to try this Sausage, Penne & Peas. It’s packed with flavor without a heavy sauce weighing it down. Let me know if you try it! You might also like my Penne with Tomato Sage Sausage Sauce.
This recipe was originally published here on Amanda’s Cookin’ on April 10, 2009
Sausage, Penne & Peas
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Print It Pin It Rate ItIngredients
- 5 sweet Italian sausage links
- 1 pound penne pasta
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
- 2 green onions sliced
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp dried basil
- 1 tsp fennel seed
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 10 ounces frozen peas Small package
- freshly ground pepper
- 1 cup of reserved pasta cooking water
Things You'll Need
Instructions
- Brown both sides of Italian sausage in a skillet.
- Add enough water to come halfway up the sides of the links. Cook on a steady low boil for about 20 minutes, turning once during cooking.
- Remove sausage and set aside to rest a few minutes.
- Meanwhile, put the pasta on to cook and pour the frozen peas into a bowl and cover with hot water.
- In a skillet heat 2 tbsp of olive oil. Sauté minced garlic and green onion in oil until tender.
- Add red pepper flakes and sun-dried tomatoes sauté a few more minutes.
- Add remaining herbs and the chicken broth. Simmer for 3-4 minutes.
- Add sausage and toss to coat.
- Drain the peas and add to sausage mixture in pan.
- Cook for a few minutes to mingle flavors and until peas are heated. Turn off heat.
- Drain pasta.
- Combine pasta and sausage mixture and toss to coat. If pasta needs some moisture, add a little bit of the reserved pasta water. Season with salt & pepper.
Nutrition
Amanda Davis
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Kyle Downing-Smith says
Recipe was superb! My husband and I enjoyed it very much! Thank you!
Amanda Formaro says
This is one of my favorites, so glad you enjoyed it too! Thanks! :)
Tyrone Biggums says
Looks great. I’m looking to make something like this for dinner tonight. I will make it vegetarian though.
Anonymous says
mmmm tasty! i agree with substituting broccoli for the peas. i also cut up half a red bell pepper and sauteed it with the mixture.
in the end, i added 1/4 cup shredded parmesean and tossed it in with the pasta.
Tami says
Holy Moly this looks good!
I’m taking a quick look through my fav blogs and keeping my fingers crossed that our electricity doesn’t go out soon from the horrible storms that are hitting us now.
Ingrid says
Yum, looks good except I’d sub some broccoli or spinach for the peas.
~ingrid
RecipeGirl says
Looks delicious for a change… I get a little tired of the red-sauce thing too.
carmencooks says
Yum, this looks really good – like a nice, simple and comforting dinner.
Alisa - Frugal Foodie says
Sausage pasta is one of my favorites, and some of your additions sound really great to try out!