Feeds: 4
Prep time: 20 minutes
Degree of Difficulty: 1

In honour of this week’s article I have prepared a simple pasta dish that has become an easy favourite in our home and virtually anyone can put together. It is very versatile, and if you can master these few techniques, you can begin to prepare other simple pasta dishes. The only thing limiting what you create is your imagination.

1 lb. dry pasta, we like linguini or penne, but most any will do
4 ea. Italian sausage
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. minced garlic
1 ea. red pepper, chopped
1 ea. yellow pepper, chopped
1 ea. 28 oz. can, diced tomatoes
1 ea. 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 cup white wine
2 cups fresh spinach
1 tsp. chili flakes
3 tbsp. fresh chopped basil
1-2 tbsp. white sugar
TT fresh parmesan

• Place the raw sausages in a medium sauce pot and cover with cold water
• Place the pot on a stove and bring to a simmer
• Meanwhile, place another large pot of water on the stove for the pasta, salt well, about 1 tablespoon per litre of water, bring to a simmer
• Once the sausage water comes to a boil, allow to simmer 3-4 minutes
• Remove from heat and gently run under cool water until cool enough to touch
• Proceed to slice the sausages into coins, set aside
• Slice the peppers into thin strips, removing the seeds and stem, don’t worry too much about the size or shape, just try to keep them fairly consistent, trust me, your family will just be happy to not be eating another rubbery hamburger
• Heat a medium sauce pan to medium-high heat, add the sausage coins, and peppers
• Saute until the peppers soften up a little, 1-2 minutes, then add your minced garlic
• Add the can of tomato paste to the sausages and peppers and stir to combine
• Quickly deglaze (this just means to pour the liquid in and stir around, lightly scraping the bottom to remove any of the good caramelized bits) with the white wine, allow to cook for 1-2 minutes
• At this time, place your pasta in the pot of water and cook until firm, yet tender, or al dente, I highly recommend following the instructions on the package, as they will give you the best recommendations for their particular pasta, but typically it will range from 6-10 minutes. Stir periodically, and place your strainer in the sink to be prepared to quickly strain the pasta
• Add the tomatoes to the pasta sauce and allow to simmer 4-5 minutes
• Now it’s time to bring everything together! Finish the pasta sauce off by tossing in the spinach, chili flakes and fresh basil
• Allow the spinach to wilt by stirring it in, 1-2 minutes
• Meanwhile, strain the pasta, draining off all of the water, DO NOT RINSE WITH WATER!
• Taste the pasta sauce, if it’s quite tart, add a pinch of sugar, adjust the salt and pepper too, the more you do this, the better you will find you become at adjusting the seasoning
• Now you can either place the pasta right in the sauce, or you can place the pasta in the bowl and top it with sauce, either way won’t hurt!
• Top the pasta with some fresh parmesan, serve it with a big hunk of crusty bread and watch your family smile from ear to ear!

Once you learn this basic recipe and the skills required to prepare it, you can begin to experiment, take out the peppers and add mushrooms, change the sausage for chicken or prawns. Try different pasta combinations. The possibilities are endless and the reward of having your family together around the dinner table is unmatched!