The only thing I can cook

Sausage broccoli fettuccine

A couple months ago I bought a cookbook claiming to be full of simple but delicious meals I could make in half an hour or less. Normally, my idea of cooking is putting a frozen lasagna in the oven and opening a bag of salad.

I tried a few recipes and found none seemed simple and none were done in less than 45 minutes. With this meal, I have found that if I am decent at multitasking I can have it on the table in less than 30 minutes, no problem! I've adjusted the recipe from the book based on my tastes and preferences.

Ingredients:
1 pound Italian uncased sausage
1 pound fettuccine
2/3 cup grated or shaved Parmesan
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp salt
5 cloves worth of minced garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 large bunch of baby broccoli or broccolini or broccoli rabe or even just broccoli

Directions:

Put 1 tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When it first begins to smoke, place Italian sausage in the skillet and cook it for about 8 minutes, until brown, breaking it up with a wooden spoon during the process. While the Italian sausage is cooking, fill a large pot with water and place it on the stove over high heat.

When the sausage is brown, stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes for about 30 seconds. At that point, it should smell delicious. Remove the skillet from the heat and cover it with a lid to keep it warm. You can also keep it on the stove but reduce the heat to low, if you like.

By now the water should be at a rolling boil. Add the salt and fettuccine, stirring occasionally and reducing heat slightly if it's going too crazy. Last night, I was stirring the meat with on hand and the noodles with the other. Multitasking! Keep the noodles cooking at a steady boil for about 11 minutes and in the meantime....

Chop up the baby broccoli. I've also used broccolini, broccoli rabe and regular old broccoli. It all works. Don't cut the pieces too small or they will end up in the sink instead of the food. One-inch pieces work best. Put the chopped broccoli in with the boiling fettuccine for the last three minutes then strain, saving 1/2 cup of the water in case you need it later.

Add the sausage, Parmesan, 2 tbsp of olive oil and stir. Use the extra noodle water to moisten the dish if necessary. I normally only use a little of it. Sometimes I add extra cheese.

.....Voila! Delicious food that I made myself! Hope you enjoyed my post and will try the recipe yourself sometime!