Penne with Chicken Sausage and Crimini Mushrooms

I generally don’t care for cream in my pasta dish, mainly because it’s too rich and heavy.  However, I had some cream I needed to use up so I decided to add it to my pasta.  It was divine! You can’t even tell there’s cream in it.  For a pasta dish with cream, it was rather light.  So if you’re worried about this dish being too rich and heavy, don’t be!

The crimini mushrooms really gave it that extra meaty texture.  And if you can’t find sweet Italian chicken sausage, sweet Italian pork sausage will work well here too.  Doesn’t it look delicious? Don’t you just want to go into the kitchen and make some? Happy Wednesday!

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Ingredients:

• 1 pound of sweet Italian chicken sausage
• olive oil for cooking
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 pound of crimini mushrooms, quartered
• salt and pepper to season
• 3/4 cup of white wine (I used a Sauvignon Blanc)
• 1 (16 ounce) package of penne rigate, cooked to al dente and drizzled with olive oil so it doesn’t stick
• 3/4 cup of heavy cream
• 3/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese + extra to sprinkle on top
• fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped

Preparation:

In a large skillet over medium high heat add a little bit of olive oil and sausage.  Crumble and brown sausage.  Scoot sausage to the side of the skillet and add chopped onions and garlic.  Cook until onions soften, about 5-7 minutes then add mushrooms.  Drizzle a bit more olive oil if needed and continue to cook until mushrooms brown.  Then season with salt and pepper.  Pour wine into the skillet and let it bubble and reduce.  About 3-4 minutes.  Add penne and cream into the skillet and toss to combine.  Then add grated parmesan cheese and continue to toss the pasta.  At this point the pasta is ready.  Remove from heat and check for seasoning before serving.  Garnish each bowl with chopped parsley and extra parmesan cheese, if desired.