Cajun Sausage Pasta
This easy Cajun sausage pasta recipe is flavorful comfort food at its best! Bonus: It's all made in one pot.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound pork sausage (ideally smoked) sliced
- 5 ounces white mushrooms sliced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes julienned
- 1/2 red bell pepper chopped
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
- 3 cups uncooked penne
- 8 leaves fresh basil thinly sliced
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese to taste
Instructions
- Add olive oil and sausage to a soup pot over medium-high heat. Brown the sausages for 5 minutes. If your sausages are particularly fatty, drain most of the grease off (I skipped this step since my sausages were fairly lean).
- Add the mushrooms and sauté for another 3 minutes or so.
- Stir in the garlic, Dijon mustard, sun-dried tomatoes, and red pepper. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add in the chicken broth, half-and-half, Cajun seasoning, and penne. Increase the heat to high. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to medium (or medium-low if it continues to bubble a lot). Cook until the pasta is done and the sauce is reduced to your liking (about 20 minutes), stirring often so the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
- Season with salt & pepper and stir in the basil. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese if desired.
Notes
- This recipe is accurate as tested on my stove. However, stoves (especially electric ones) can vary, so if you notice the pasta is not yet cooked and there doesn't seem to be enough liquid, I suggest using your best judgment and adding a bit more liquid as needed, a half cup at a time until the pasta is cooked.
- Some pastas absorb more liquid than others, so I suggest sticking to the type of pasta I recommend in this recipe.
- You could use pretty much any kind of pork sausage in this recipe, but a smoked pork sausage such as Andouille sausage would be especially good.
- I used sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil and drained the oil before adding them to the pan.
- Serves 4-6.