What's for Dinner {37} - One Pot Red Pepper Sausage Alfredo with Marscarpone

Luther hosts a pasta night for students staying over break. We bring 6-8 pasta dishes, a bunch of garlic bread, salad and drinks. Best night ever? I was really excited when I heard about this because you all know of my love for pasta. It took me FOREVER to come up with a recipe but I found one yesterday that I just had to try.

For one, it's a one pot meal. Those are the BEST kinds of recipes. I loathe washing dishes so this really reduces that chore. Secondly, red pepper and sausage. Done. I've become quite obsessed lately with red pepper flakes and also hot sausage. I can't get enough. Lastly, marscarpone. I was introduced to this recently and really wanted to give it a try in one of my own recipes.

Because I had never made this before, I didn't want the first time to be for a bunch of picky college students. So, I decided to make it at home! And holy cow, I'm so thankful I did. I didn't make any mistakes, it was just that good.

One Pot Red Pepper Sausage Alfredo adapted from Host the Toast
*I did change up the recipe a bit, but the recipe provided was a great starting point!

Ingredients

• 1 lb Italian sausage
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 cups milk, plus ¼ cup for the sauce
• 2 cups chicken broth, plus ¼ cup for the sauce
• 1 (16 oz) jar roasted red peppers, drained and pureed (you can do this in a food processor or blender) - I CHOSE TO USE RED PEPPER FLAKES INSTEAD - I didn't want the extra work, but I may try that next time
• 8 oz goat cheese - Walmart didn't have this so I grabbed marscarpone instead
• ½ cup grated parmesan
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 handfuls fresh spinach
• 16 oz pasta of your choice

Directions

1. In a large pot or high-walled pan, saute the sausage meat with the garlic and olive oil over medium heat, until browned.
2. Stir in chicken broth, pureed roasted red pepper, milk and pasta. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat and simmer until pasta is cooked through, about 12-15 minutes. If the liquid has all been absorbed, add the additional milk and chicken broth.
3. Stir in spinach, one handful at a time, and cook until wilted and hot.
4. Stir in the marscarpone and parmesan. Continue to stir until melted. Remove from heat and serve.

I'm really excited for the pasta event tonight - I hope it goes over well and my guess is it will! We have a lot of pasta dishes in the works. I decided at the last second to buy ground turkey instead of hot sausage because there are a number of students who don't eat pork. Hopefully it's still just as good!