Chicken sausage sun dried tomato pasta is made with a rich and creamy sun dried tomato sauce, served with peas and chicken sausage over bowtie pasta. It’s incredibly satisfying and it comes together really quickly making it great for a weeknight meal.
The trick to making this extra flavorful is to sauté the sun dried tomatoes in a little of the olive oil from the jar for a few minutes. This extracts that extra rich and sweet flavor of the sun dried tomatoes which in turn lends that flavor to the whole dish.
A jar of sun dried tomatoes is such an easy ingredient that adds so much flavor so quickly to a dish, and it’s usually pretty well loved by everyone at the table. Just add a some milk, cream and parmesan and you have a dish that looks and taste like it came from a high-end Italian restaurant. This really is super simple and a great meal to make for everyone on a busy weeknight.
Proportions of Milk, Heavy Cream, and Parmesan
- I use 1 cup each of whole milk, heavy cream, and parmesan cheese. This makes it easy to get the measurements right (just 1 cup of everything), but also it lightens up the dish a little by not using all heavy cream. Then I add parmesan cheese to add richness.
- Keep in mind that if you substitute the whole milk or heavy cream for 2% or 1%, the milk will likely curdle if you bring it up to a simmer.
- I like to use Trader Joes parmesan cheese. It has a really nice flavor that isn't too intense so its a great addition to a lot of different dishes, this one included.
Jar of Sun Dried Tomatoes
- I like to dice the sun dried tomatoes into smaller pieces because I prefer smaller pieces in one bite. I find that eating a half or a slice of a sun dried tomato all at once is a bit overwhelming for me, but dicing them into smaller pieces is the perfect amount of intensity along with the pasta, peas, and sauce. But if you'd like to make it even easier on yourself just buy a jar of sliced sun dried tomatoes, and skip the dicing.
- You can find jars of sun dried tomatoes in most large grocery stores. Keep an eye on the ingredients though. Some stores will sell sun dried tomatoes in canola oil rather than olive oil. Look for the kind that is marinated in olive oil.
- Generally you can find sun dried tomatoes in olive oil at Trader Joes at a reasonable price. Whole Foods also has it, but its quite a bit more expensive, yet the product is not any higher quality.
Chicken Sausage and Frozen Peas
- Sweet Italian chicken sausage is a nice and lighter alternative to the pork version. I actually prefer the chicken sausage, but both will work well.
- Frozen peas are an easy way to add some vegetables and bright green contrast to the otherwise rich and creamy sauce. No chopping or cutting or anything complicated, just toss them in.
- Great for a family weeknight dinner, done in 35 minutes.
If you make this recipe, I'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment down below or tag a photo on instagram!
If you're looking for more dinner recipes, you might love these below:
Creamy Lasagna Without Ricotta
Gnocchi and Baby Broccoli in a Brown Butter Sage Sauce
Chicken Sausage Sun Dried Tomato Pasta
Ingredients
- 8-10 oz jar sun dried tomatoes in olive oil
- 1 lb sweet Italian chicken sausage, removed from casings
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup frozen peas
- salt to taste
- 1 lb pasta, such as bowties
Instructions
- Bring a large sauté pan to medium heat. Add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil from the jar of sun dried tomatoes. Add the loose Italian chicken sausage, cook stirring occasionally and breaking into smaller pieces about 10-12 minutes until lightly browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Remove the sun dried tomatoes from the jar, reserving the olive oil. Dice the tomatoes into smaller pieces. Add the diced sun dried tomatoes and 2-3 tablespoons of the olive oil from the jar. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Watch carefully so that they do not burn.
- Add the whole milk, heavy cream, and grated parmesan cheese. Stir to combine and bring to a low simmer. Add the peas, chicken sausage, and salt to taste. Bring back to a simmer. Remove from heat and serve over pasta.
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