Skillet Penne & Sausage Supper (Gluten-Free/Adaptable, Dairy-Free/Adaptable)

Time for some serious home cookin' here in the Great Northwest.  While our family did have one blissful week of sun and BBQ while watching spring baseball and talking endless Physical Therapy with good friends, we are back to what may be the rainiest six months ever in Seattle (somehow, rain just isn't as romantic when I can't leave the house on a whim with my snowboard anymore...).  Gratefully there is the kitchen and my beautiful 2-and-a half-year-old sidekick who is showing lots of interest in being in the kitchen with me. 

This has been one of my friends and my favorite easy meals for several years now and it just occurred to me the other day to adapt it for a gluten/dairy sensitive meal and enjoy it again.  I found that the brown rice pasta I used absorbed less stock than it's semolina cousin, so I would reduce it by a bit from the original next time.  I had to simmer it several minutes longer to absorb/evaporate the extra broth which left the pasta much softer than I would prefer, but Mike loved it ("It's almost like a stroganoff").  Gratefully he doesn't mind a mushy noodle, but I will change the ratio in the list below for others.  I hope you like it!  I further adapted it to suit what I had on hand in the kitchen and strongly encourage you to do the same as it is very forgivable and delicious.  Also, its fast!

Skillet Penne & Sausage Supper

• 1 tbls Olive oil
• 1 Onion minced (I skipped this, I didn't have one)
• 1 lb. Chicken or Turkey sausage, casings removed
• 3 medium Garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 C Oil-packed Sun-dried tomatoes, rinsed and chopped fine (canned diced tomatoes will sub in here fine if you don't have SD-toms on hand)
• 8 oz penne (~2.5C) - I used Trader Joe's Brown Rice Penne
• 2 C Low-sodium Chicken broth
• 1/2C Heavy cream (I subbed MimicCream)
• 5oz baby spinach leaves (I used dried wild mushrooms and peas instead tonight)
• 1oz grated Parmesan or Pecorino (~1/2cup)
• salt & pepper

Directions
1.  Heat oil over medium heat in deep sided 12" skillet until shimmering .  Add the onion if using and about 1/2tsp salt and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
2.  Stir in the sausage and cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 4-5 minutes.
3.  Stir in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Sprinkle the tomatoes over the sausage.  If you are substituting something instead of the spinach, this is a great time to add it to the mix.  Pour the broth and cream or MimiCream over the pasta.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender.  About 10 minutes for semolina pasta, or about 12-15 minutes for rice pasta.
4. Stir in the spinach a handful at a time and cook until wilted, about 2 minutes.  Stir in the Parmesan or Pecorino and season to  taste with salt & pepper.

I added a bit of broth to deglaze the pan before putting the pasta and such in because the bits on the pan are just too good to not scrape up into the sauce!