For a Splurge

Last night for dinner I had my sausage pasta somethingorother for one. It doesn't even have a name, and this isn't really a recipe. The cool thing about this is that one can make as little or as much of this as desired to meet their individual caloric needs. Here we go:

1. Put some water in a pot to boil.

2. Measure out how much pasta you need. I usually do two servings - 4oz dry. That adds up to a lot of points though - 11. Use less if you want less. I'm hungry, and I have the points for it, so I'm GOING for it! Add salt to water, and then put the pasta in when it's at a full boil.

3. When pasta has about 6 minutes left, put a non-stick skillet on medium heat. Add 2 tsp of EVOO. To this oil add whatever spices you like - I add crushed red pepper and basil.

4. When pasta has about 4-5 minutes left, add 2 oz of smoked turkey sausage (cut into little bite sized pieces) to the pan with the EVOO. I also like to use lite kielbasa. Stir to coat with EVOO, and then leave.

5. At about 2.5 mins left flip the sausage. If you like garlic or garlic powder now is the time to add. If you add it any sooner it will become bitter or burn. Also take a small measuring cup and pull out about 1/4 cup of pasta water, and set it aside.

6. If sausage is browning fast, take off of the heat when ready.

7. Drain pasta in a colander, and immediately dump the pasta into the pan with the sausage, and toss to coat. If the "sauce" needs more liquid, add some pasta water. It won't take much.

Put it in a bowl, and enjoy!

With 4 oz of pasta, 1 turkey smoked sausage link (Hillshire Farms) and 2 tsp of EVOO I wind up with 15 Points Plus values. It's a lot to spend, though, so if you have fewer points to burn consider only doing 2oz of pasta, and adding some veggies to fill it out some!

Last night I used cavatappi pasta