Sausage Skillet Recipe (made with $2.99/lb fresh sale sausage at Whole Foods)

DISCLAIMER: This is a 20 Minute Meal (17, actually!).

As promised, I've written a recipe using the amazing sausage that's on sale at Whole Foods this week (until Tuesday). This can obviously be made with any sausage, but Whole Foods makes their's fresh, and it's just about the most beautiful sausage I've ever seen. I don't even really eat meat, but this stuff is top of the line. I always take sausage out of the casing before cooking with it, and this sausage just has huge chunks of fresh pork in it. It's actually really impressive, and I never even knew that this is what sausage is supposed to look like. Plus, they're huge. They're 6 oz. each, which is the equivalent of two normal sausages.

awesome price

awesome sausage

So, since these are such a steal, I decided to use them in 2 recipes. If you're a sausage person, I would buy a few pounds of these and freeze them. They'd be great on the grill. We chose hot, but they have sweet and herb, as well. These are originally $4.99/lb and are on sale $2.99.

The recipes I've written are Hot and Spicy Sausage Skillet and Sausage, Mushroom, and Bean Meatloaf. I will share the first recipe, but not the second one (meatloaf). The meatloaf was good, but I haven't perfected the recipe yet. The point is, you can buy a pound of these sausages, a pound of mushrooms, and a can (or 1/3 bag dried) of beans and make 2 dinners that serve a bunch of people.

Hot and Spicy Sausage Skillet
serves 5-6 hungry adults

12 oz. spicy sausage (about 2 1/2 c. for those without a scale - 2 links from WFs - $2.24)

1 c. organic red beans ($.55 - TJs)

3 1/2 c. quartered white button mushrooms ($1.50 - Haymarket)

2 T. olive oil ($.24)

2 cloves sliced garlic ($.04)

1 t. salt (<$.01)

1 t. dried parsley ($.06)

1 t. dried basil ($.06)

1 dash black pepper (<$.01)

4 c. organic whole wheat penne ($.85)

Total is $5.50 for a meal that serves at least 5. That's $1.10/person. Not bad.

1. Bring large pot of water to a boil, with 2 T. salt.
2. While that heats up, quarter a 10 oz. package of mushrooms, which will yield about 3 1/2 c. mushrooms. Quartering means cutting into 4 chunks. Not 4 slices. I should've taken a picture of that, sorry. It's like cutting a cross in the top of the mushroom. OK. It's not that difficult. Also, while the water is heating:
   Squeeze the sausage out of the casing into bite sized chunks. Also:
3. Slice 2 cloves of garlic.
4. Add 4 c. penne to boiling water and stir.
5. In a LARGE skillet, over medium high heat, add 2 T. olive oil and let it get hot for a second. Then add in the sausage chunks, salt, parsley, and basil, and brown over medium-high heat until cooked (6 minutes or so).
6. Once cooked, add mushrooms, garlic slices, and beans, along with 2 ladlefulls of pasta water. Let it simmer over medium-high heat while the penne finishes cooking.
7. Once the penne is done, add that to the skillet (about half of the pasta water should've evaporated and cooked the mushrooms) and toss (still over medium-high heat). This helps the pasta absorb the sauce.
8. Serve and enjoy.

scrimpyTips for this recipe:

- You can use chicken or turkey sausage also.

- This would be delicious with some fresh grated cheese on top.

- You can make the sausage topping ahead of time, and then just reheat it with some pasta water. Toss with fresh pasta and you're good to go.