Sausage, Peppers, and Penne Pasta

Remember my post from last week about the "Yummy Food?" Well, I finally have a recipe for our family favorite!

Since I decided to make this for my McMoms "Cook-Off" night, actually measured everything out as I added it. But then I couldn't make it to the meeting anyway! (Long story - but the weather sucked, Jacob got a 103.7 fever, my mom was in her car stuck in a tornado somewhere between Azle and Aledo, and it was just best for me to be home.) But, since I had already made the meal to go, Jon was happy to have his favorite for a few days!


This is my "make-shift" recipe that is close to - although still not as good - Olive Garden's Sausage Peppers Rustica!

Penne Pasta, 3 ½ cups cooked; I use about 1/3rd of the 14.5 oz box of the Market Pantry/Target brand Penne Plus
Onion, 1 cup chopped: which is one small onion.
Peppers, 1 ½ cups chopped: I use a mixture of green, red, yellow, and/or orange peppers - the equivalent of about 2 total peppers of whatever color pepper is on sale at Sprouts that week! (Typically it is some leftover green pepper from another recipe earlier in the week and then a partial amount whatever color I have on hand - usually red.)
2 Pre-Cooked Sausage Links (We have used the Market Pantry/Target brand chicken sausage, which works well, but the BEST is Sprout's brand pre-cooked "Authentic Italian Sausage!!")
Olive Oil, 1 Tbsp
Garlic, 1 clove minced
Hunt's Four-Cheese Spaghetti Sauce, 26 oz can
Mozzarella Cheese (Probably around 1 cup total.)

Cook the penne pasta according the directions on the box. Chop the onion and peppers into thick slices. Slice the sausage links into approximately 1/2 thick slices. Warm 1 Tbsp olive oil and one clove of minced garlic in a deep skillet. Cook the onions and peppers until tender, about 3 minutes. Add the sausage and cook until heated, about 2 more minutes. Add the can of spaghetti sauce and stir well. Add the penne pasta until desired consistency is reached (we like it to be pretty "saucy”). Stir in about 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese. (You don't want to add too much cheese now, as it will be all "stringy" as you are dishing out each serving.) Cover and simmer for a couple of minutes. Top each serving with more mozzarella or grated parmesan, if desired.

It is great served with the frozen garlic-cheese Texas Toast!