Pasta Romano with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli

I prepared one of my favorite dishes today. Pasta Romano with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli.

This is one of those quick, don't know what to cook meals, that my family loves.

Whenever they don't know what they want to eat, I make this dish! You can add smoked mozzarella to this dish and really make it extra special. 

I start off by sauteing onion and tomato with a little garlic in extra virgin olive oil.

Then I add the chicken sausage to the pan and season everything well. I used Italian chicken sausage, but use whatever sausage you prefer.

Next, while the sausage cooked, I cooked pasta in a big pot of salted water. I added the broccoli to the pasta cooking water the last three minutes of cooking.

Don't forget to reserve 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water for the sauce.

I tossed everything together, added a little broth and pasta cooking water to make the sauce.

Lastly, I added lots of Romano cheese to the pan.

All done and ready to eat!

Enjoy.

Pasta Romano with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 lb penne pasta
1 lb chicken sausage, casing removed
1 head broccoli
1 cup Romano cheese, grated
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup pasta cooking water
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1 tomato, seeded, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tablespoon creole seasoning
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
extra virgin olive oil

Directions: 

Mix seasoning blend together and set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil.  Add pasta and cook 10 minutes. The last 3 minutes of pasta cooking time add broccoli to pasta cooking water.

While pasta cooks, add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a skillet over medium heat.

Add onion and tomato, saute for about 4 minutes, season with 1/2 tablespoon of seasoning blend, add garlic and cook 1 minute more.

Add chicken sausage to pan, break up and season with about 1 tablespoon of seasoning blend, mix well. Cook chicken sausage until browned about 12-15 minutes.

Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water. Rinse pasta and broccoli under warm water. Drain well.

Add pasta and broccoli to sausage pot, season with remaining seasonings and mix well. Add broth and water, mix well. Continue to cook for about 3-4 minutes over medium heat.

Add 1/2 of Romano cheese to pot and mix well.

Serve with remaining Romano cheese.

Enjoy!