Blistered Tomato and Chicken Sausage Pasta

It’s a meal you can whip up in a flash, but with all the flavor still packed in.

Lindsey Hargett shares how to make a delicious pasta dish for a weeknight dinner.

Find more recipes from Lindsey on her website, www.lkcooking.com.

Blistered Tomato and Chicken Sausage Pasta

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 12-oz package chicken sausage links (italian or sun-dried tomato work best),
  sliced in half lengthwise then into ¼” slices
• 1 lb short pasta (rotini, penne, etc.)
• ½ bunch asparagus, chopped into 1” pieces
• 1 pint grape tomatoes
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups baby spinach (about 2 large handfuls)
• 2 cups tomato basil sauce (about half a store-bought jar)
• Reserved pasta water, as needed to thin sauce

Instructions

1. In a large saute pan, saute your sliced chicken sausage in 1 T olive oil over medium high heat until it starts to brown, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.

2. While the sausage is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil and season generously with salt. Add in your pasta of choice. When the pasta has been cooking for about 3 minutes, add in the chopped asparagus. Once the pasta is cooked, strain everything together. Make sure to reserve a cup of pasta water when straining!

3. Add the remaining 1 T olive oil to the saute pan, along with the grape tomatoes and diced bell pepper. Let the tomatoes and pepper start to blister, stirring only occasionally so that each side gets plenty of direct heat.

4. Once the tomatoes start popping, smash them with the back of a spoon. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute for about 3-4 more minutes.

5. Stir the spinach in with the tomato mixture and saute for 1 minute, or until wilted. Pour in the tomato sauce and stir to combine.

6. Add the pasta, asparagus, and chicken sausage into the saute pan with the sauce. Toss everything together, and add in some splashes pasta water to thin as desired. Serve with a sprinkling of freshly grated parmesan.