easy penne pasta with cauliflower, sausage & parmesan cheese
Ingredients
Scale
- 1/2 box whole wheat penne
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 – 1 pound sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
- 1/2 large onion, grated or very finely diced
- 1 medium/large head of cauliflower or broccoli cut into small florets
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup freshly grated Pecorino or Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese plus more for sprinkling
Instructions
- Start preparing the pasta first. You really will need some cooking liquid for the pan so get it going now but this is key: REDUCE cooking time by 3 minutes from what the package directions say.
- Once the pasta has started cooking in the pot, move on to the rest.
- Fire up a very large skillet. On medium heat, add the oil then sausage. Give it 2 minutes to start browning, then grate in the onion. (Or dice in very small pieces). Continue until meat is cooked through and onions soften, about 5 minutes. Remove the meat and onion from the pan, setting it aside.
- Turn up the heat to medium-high and add cauliflower to the same skillet. For 5 minutes, stir occasionally, allowing the edges to start browning a bit. Add dried herbs (oregano, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper) and stir again. Now add the meat mixture back in. Stir. Then add the cooked pasta plus 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid. Stir and allow to simmer, thickening as the water evaporates.
- When everything is evenly coated with sauce, remove from pan. Add grated cheese then stir just before serving. (And add more pasta cooking liquid as needed.)