Week Four: A 30 Minute Meal

Up to now, Debby has been teaching me the joys of crock pot cooking - perfect for me.  A generally stress free way of cooking, slow cooker recipes require little effort to put a home cooked meal on the table at the end of a long day when I am exhausted.

Then came Thursday and new territory. I was left on my own with a simple pasta recipe. Sausage, Meatball and Broccoli Pasta - a way to use turkey meatballs frozen the prior week.  No problem! I can boil pasta!

Well, I boiled the pasta and broccoli, cooked the meatballs and sausage and combined the rest of the ingredients as directed. But when I had to turn some pasta water and an egg into a sauce, I suddenly remembered why I don't like to cook.

Stress! Inevitably followed by swearing - loud swearing! My poor son rushed into the kitchen to make sure I was okay. He rubbed my back to calm me. I took a deep breath, added some cornstarch and somehow a sauce emerged ... SUCCESS!

This hearty, tasty pasta dish took exactly 30 minutes (mini-meltdown included) and got us out the door in plenty of time to make soccer practice. It was a quick make meal, so fast that I didn't have time to make a salad. Next time, I'll do that first!


Stir Fry Sausage, Meatball and Broccoli Pasta
Active Time: 25 minutes  Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
2 cups tortellini pasta
1 cup frozen broccoli pieces
2 sweet Italian sausages
1/2 pound pre-cooked turkey meatballs (defrost if frozen)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (plus more for drizzling if desired)
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1 large egg
Freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese mix (about 2 ounces)
Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook as the label directs, adding the broccoli during the last 2 minutes of cooking. Reserve 1 cup cooking water in a small bowl, then drain the pasta and broccoli.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausages and cook, turning occasionally, until browned and cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes.  Cut cooked sausages into bite size pieces and reiurn to pan with meatballs. Once heated through remove meat from skillet and set aside.

Now comes the stir fry part. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the garlic, and red pepper flakes to skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring, 1 minute. Add the cooked pasta, broccoli, sausage chunks and meatballs. Keep stirring. Heat through another minute. Whisk the egg with the reserved cooking water in the small bowl, then add liquid to the skillet a little at a time. Don't stop stirring yet! Stir gently until the sauce thickens slightly. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Divide the pasta mixture among bowls. Sprinkle liberally with cheese and drizzle with olive oil.