1lbsweet Italian chicken sausage, removed from casings
1cupwhole milk
1cupheavy cream
1cupfreshly grated parmesan cheese
1cupfrozen peas
salt to taste
1lb 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 8-10 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.
Notes
Sun-Dried Tomatoes: Look for the jar that is julienne (sliced) and marinated in olive oil. Trader Joe's sells jarred sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil at a reasonable price. Whole Foods also has it, but it's quite a bit more expensive, yet the product is not any higher quality.Dicing the Sun-Dried Tomatoes: Eating half or even a slice of a sun-dried tomato all at once can be a bit much, 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. The jars are sold with sun-dried tomatoes either halved or julienne (sliced).Chicken Sausage: I buy raw sweet Italian chicken sausages (Trader Joe's) and remove them from the casing. You can easily substitute this for sweet or spicy Italian pork sausage.Milk, Cream, Parmesan: 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. The added parmesan cheese adds richness. Don't substitute whole milk for 1% or 2% milk or it will curdle when brought to a simmer.Salt to Taste: Add as much salt as you prefer, tasting as you go. Everyone's preferences are different, but you'll want at least a little bit to bring out the flavors of the dish. If you don't know where to start add a pinch (or 5-10 cranks of a salt cracker) up to a quarter teaspoon of salt.Stovetop Setting: If you are using an electric stove bring the heat to a setting of "4 out of 10". Any higher and you're more likely to burn the food.