Farfalle with Turkey Sausage, Peas, and Mushrooms

My good friend, Scubes (aka Helen), came to visit yesterday and brought a favourite recipe with her! It's by Giada DiLaurentiis (Everday Italian, Giada at Home) and is a sauceless pasta made with turkey sausage, cremini mushrooms, frozen peas, and parmigian cheese.

Ingredients

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1lb ground turkey sausage, removed from casing

salt and pepper

10 oz cremini mushrooms, coarsely chopped

10 oz frozen peas, defrosted slightly

1 lb farfalle pasta (big bowties)

1/2 freshly grated parmigian

Directions

1. Put a pot of water onto boil.
2. While the water comes to a boil, heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large saute pan.
3. Season turkey meat with salt and pepper and add to pan.
4. Cook until brown, breaking up and large chunks with a wooden spoon.
5. Remove meat from pan and set aside.
6. Add 2 more tbsp olive oil into the pan and heat.
7. Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper.
8. Saute util all the mushroom liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes.
9. Add the peas and saute for a few more minutes.
10. Add the meat back to the pan and heat for 3 minutes.
11. While all this is happening, keep your eye on the pot of water. When it comes to a boil, add the pasta and cook al dente.
12. When pasta is ready, add to the pan with the meat and veggies and stir to combine.
13. Drizzle with remaining olive oil.
14. Turn off heat and add the cheese.
15. Stir well and serve!

A few notes....

I think we added too many peas! Also, we chopped some red bell pepper and added that into the mix, sauteing it while we cooked the mushrooms. Scubes also seasoned the turkey with some dried spices - thyme, sage, and chili flakes... just to add some more flavour!

Other than that, we didn't change the recipe much! It was delicious and made plenty... in fact, we ate this morning for lunch after spin class!

Also - wondering why we used sausages and then took them out of the casings anyway? Why wouldn't we just use ground turkey? Answer: Store bought sausages are already seasoned, whereas if you used ground turkey, you would have to season it yourself. The sausages are a nice little shortcut!