Spicy Sausage Pasta

In honor of our commitment to healthy living, I will be trying to cook lighter dishes with yummy, healthy ingredients.  When I post the recipes and the results on here, I will also try include nutrition information and Weight Watchers Points+ calculations for each of them.

Like I told you in yesterday's post, this commitment to healthy living is important to me AND the hubby.  So I really wanted to start us off with a dish that is not only healthy but also filling and full of flavor.  I found exactly that in this Spicy Sausage Pasta recipe.  This dish was full of flavor and completely satisfying.  Served with a small side salad, I felt anything but deprived!

I got the original recipe here at emilybites.com, but as always, I made a few of my own adjustments based on the ingredients I already had on hand.  Enjoy!

Spicy Sausage Pasta

1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small yellow onion, chopped
1/2 - 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
14 oz smoked turkey sausage, sliced (I used Oscar Mayer)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
2 1/4 cups fat free chicken broth
10 ounces can Ro-Tel tomatoes & green chiles, original
1/2 cup fat free half and half
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 package (13.25 ounces) uncooked wheat pasta (I used Dreamfields penne rigate--highly recommend this brand for keeping your carbs down)
4 ounces 2% milk Mozzarella cheese, shredded

In a large skillet (preferably oven-safe), add the olive oil and heat over medium heat.  Add the onions, mushrooms and sausage, and saute until sausage starts to brown and mushrooms soften.  (I added mushrooms because the hubby and I love them, but you could easily leave them out for picky eaters.)  Add garlic and crushed red pepper flake, and saute for an additional 30 seconds to 1 minute, stirring.

Add chicken broth, Ro-Tel, half and half, salt, and pepper to skillet, and stir to combine.  Next, add the uncooked pasta and stir to make sure the pasta is covered with the liquid.  Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, keeping covered, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until pasta is tender.

Set your oven to broil.  Remove skillet from heat and add half your cheese, stirring to combine.  If your skillet isn't oven safe, transfer the mixture to an oven safe dish.  Whatever dish it ends up in, sprinkle your remaining cheese on top and place under the broiler until cheese is melted and beginning to brown.

Yields 6 servings.
Weight Watchers Points+/serving: 11
Nutrition Info/serving: Total fat - 10.5g; Saturated Fat - 3.8g; Cholesterol - 52mg; Total Carbs - 53.9g; Fiber - 6.3g; Protein 23.3g

(Points and nutrition information calculated using recipe analyzer on www.caloriecount.com)