Need a Quick Recipe That's Kid-Approved? Try RJ's Pasta Dinner
Every parent has a quick recipe that's a go-to when it comes to feeding their family in a hurry. When you need something more hearty than spaghetti, try this easy pasta dish that combines sweet Italian sausage and a zesty homemade pasta sauce; all the taste with just five ingredients that feeds a family of four and is ready in 20 minutes.
The key to this dish is the simplicity of needing only 5 ingredients. Just a pound of cooked sausage, a few spices, and pound of dried pasta such as rigatoni and you are all set. With children, I prefer sweet Italian sausage for this recipe. If your kids have a more mature pallet, don’t hesitate to buy spicy Italian sausage, or even add a pinch or two of dried red pepper flakes into this recipe. A one-pound cooked sausage is readily available at most supermarkets. The next item on your list will be a pasta sauce base. I like to use a 14 ounce can of stewed tomatoes (Italian recipe-style) and small 3 ounce can of tomato paste for my base sauce. The next item to buy will be Italian seasoning, (which is a mixture of oregano, basil, parsley and fennel). This will go into my sauce base.
Shopping List:
Fully-cooked Italian sausage (1 pound), cut slices
1-14 oz. can of stewed tomatoes
1-3 oz. can of tomato paste
Italian seasoning
Dried pasta (1 pound)
Accent items: Parmesan cheese, minced garlic, olive oil, fine chopped onion
Kitchen Tools:
Boiling pot for pasta
Frying pan to cook sausage
Wooden spoon or spatula for sauce and pasta
Cooking Steps:
Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Keep it boiling while you start the pan with a little olive oil, chopped onion and minced garlic. Once brown, add sausage wheels into mix for about 10 minutes, or until brown. Keep about 1 tablespoon of grease from the pan. Return pan back to heat and add can of stewed tomatoes and mix half of can of the tomato paste with 1 tablespoon of the Italian seasoning. Allow tomatoes to caramelize about 3 minutes under the heat.
Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain pasta and keep about 1/3 cup of the pasta water. Pour that water into to the pan of tomato sauce. Use spatula to scrape the drippings from the fry pan to mix well with tomato mixture.
Place drained pasta and cooked sausage into the sauce and mix well so that the sauce and pasta are completely covered. Serve with Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes according to your taste. Enjoy!
Richard “RJ” Jaramillo is a single parent expert, entrepreneur, and founder of SingleDad.com, a website and social media resource dedicated to single parenting, the newly-divorced, re-married, widowed and single dad with children. RJ lives in San Diego with his three kids.
