Penne with Goat Cheese-Tomato Sauce

The funny thing about this recipe is that it took seeing it a second time to capture my interest. I was checking out a blog I'd never visited before, Pleasure Cooker, when I saw this pasta dish she'd dubbed "Heaven on a Plate." It was originally from Elly Says Opa, a blog I frequent often, and I wondered how I could've missed such a delicious looking recipe. I realized I'd seen it before, but I can't understand why I didn't jump to make it immediately. I mean it has so many of my favorite things- chicken sausage, goat cheese, pasta, mushrooms, and peas.

This was soooo yummy. Sage, who would rather have feta or blue cheese anyday over goat cheese, loved it as a creamy base to this pasta. A little while after dinner, he came up and thanked me again for such a delicious dinner. And my little guy, who is a very light eater, asked for seconds. This made enough for the three of us for dinner with well as a lunch sized portion left over.

I made some changes, mostly tweaking of quanities and slight substitutions. I scaled back the amount of pasta and the sauce ingredients, but left the vegetables pretty much the same, which worked perfectly. Instead of hot Italian chicken sausage, I subbed spinach & asaigo ones (which I sliced instead of crumbled,) used petite diced tomatoes instead of crushed, and dried basil instead of fresh. I also sped up the cook time since we were hungry. It was easy to make, and adapted well to my changes.

adapted from Elly Says Opa
7 oz. whole wheat penne pasta
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3 links chicken sausage, sliced
1/2 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
8 oz. cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/4 tsp. (or to taste) crushed red pepper flakes (omitted and used at the table)
1 (14.5 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes, with juice
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
2 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add sausage and cook until browned. Add the onion and saute for about 2 minutes before adding the mushrooms and garlic. Once the mushrooms and onions are tender, add the tomato paste and red pepper flakes. (If needed, deglaze pan using a few splashes of wine or broth. I didn't need to do this.)

Add the tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.Add the peas and heat through for a minute or two. Stir in the basil and the goat cheese. Remove from the heat and continue stirring until the goat cheese has melted into the sauce. Season to taste if necessary and combine with the cooked pasta.