Orecchiette with Sausage, Peas and Mascarpone

This pasta dish is truly simple and delicious. It only took me about 25 minutes to toss together and it tasted like I slaved over it for hours.

I love making pasta dishes for dinner. They are a one dish meal that usually contain all of the ingredients to make a well balanced meal. This recipe is the perfect pasta dish because it contains a starch (obviously being the pasta), plenty of protein from sausage and beans and vitamins from the peas.

You can really add whatever green veggie you want to this dish. I happened to have some frozen organic peas on hand and they went perfectly in this dish. 

An important thing to look for when buying frozen vegetables is making sure that what you're buying is healthy and good for you and your family. Make sure to read the ingredients and make sure that if, for example, you're buying frozen peas, that peas is the only ingredient listed. You'd be amazed at how many packages I've read that include many other unnecessary and gross ingredients that they add to the veggies.

Another way to make this dish unique to your tastes would be to play around with the turkey sausage. There are so many all natural turkey sausage flavors at the grocery stores these days that would taste wonderful in this dish.

The next time you're in need of a quick and healthy meal to serve, turn to this slightly sweet and spicy pasta recipe. It has wonderful flavor and creaminess from the mascarpone and is sure to please anyone that you're serving it to. Enjoy!

Orecchiette with Sausage, Peas and Mascarpone:

(recipe slightly adapted from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/)

1 pound orecchiette 

4 andouille turkey sausage links, chopped

1 package frozen peas

1 shallot, minced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 (15 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

salt and pepper, to taste

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and stir in the orecchiette. Cook according to directions and drain. Set aside.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and add in the shallot and sausage. Cook until the shallot is tender and the sausage is cooked. Stir in the peas, beans and oregano. 
3. Add the orecchiette to the skillet and stir to combine. Stir in the mascarpone and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to serving bowls and serve!