Disclaimer: It’s Friday, y’all.  And listen: I’m fresh out of steam today, but I decided to participate in 7 Quick Takes for the sake of the 7 in 7.  The post was a bit over 3/4 written, when all of a sudden, I accidentally hit some button that took me to another screen and I lost it all.  Mhhmm.  All of it except the title.  I experienced a brief flashback of double thesis fear and my palms started to sweat as my eyes darted back and forth across the screen.  So.  

For today’s post, I’m leaving you with a simple recipe that I’ve been making all the time lately.  I actually don’t feel right about calling it a “recipe” because it’s so easy and a toddler could figure this out.  But just in case you needed a little inspiration, I present to you…

This recipe came about because we had hardly any food left in the house and I wasn’t about to get out in the ice and snow just for some groceries.  But we had these ingredients and I figured throwing them together couldn’t be too heinous.

We loved it. Dave especially scarfed it down and has been requesting it ever since.

Seriously, it’s so easy, so quick, so brainless, and so cheap.  But it’s really, really delicious.  And different.  That’s worth something, right?

Ingredients

• 1 package of whole grain short pasta (I like to use rotini because it’s fun; or whatever’s on sale)
• 1 jar of alfredo sauce (extra cheesy pleeeeease)
• 1 lb ground Italian sausage
• 1 small bag frozen broccoli
• 1 container cherry tomatoes, halved
• Provolone or mozarella or parmesan cheese to taste (really, whatever you have on hand that you typically like with pasta)
• 1 tsp garlic
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp oregano, basil, or Italian seasoning

What to Do

1. Boil water and cook pasta according to instructions on package.  TIP: Please, for the love, once the water is boiling, add a generous amount of salt to the water before you put the pasta in.  The salt gives the pasta so much more flavor.  When the pasta is done, strain and set aside.
2. In a separate pan, heat sauce on low heat until it’s hot.  While it’s warming, add salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and garlic.  Stir to incorporate.
3. In a large skillet, begin to defrost broccoli over medium heat.  Add a pinch of salt and pepper.
4. Once the broccoli begins to defrost, add the sausage.  Sprinkle crushed red pepper flakes over sausage (if you don’t like heat, you can totally forego this step or adjust as you wish).
5. Once the broccoli and sausage are mostly cooked, add the cherry tomatoes and cook until they soften and burst (?).
6. To assemble, put the pasta in a large bowl and sprinkle cheese over it (this helps the cheese actually stick to the noodles).  Next, add the sausage, broccoli, and tomatoes.  Finally, pour the sauce over it all and mix it up.  Add more cheese or seasonings to taste.

See how easy and quick?!  Just a nice variation to the typical pasta.  Enjoy!