Paired Pasta with Sausage - satisfies all your Pasta Purists...

Fridays seem to be the day we start to crave pasta at my house.  After a long, stressful week - there is just something comforting about all those carbs combined with Italian spices, sauces, and cheese.  

I decided to try one of my favorite ?non-traditional? sausage blends with an Italian-style pasta.  We enjoy sage sausage in soups during the winter, and even though it is a little spicy by itself - it combines well with almost anything.  If you are loyal to the traditional Italian sausage, it would be great as well.

I decided to toss the cooked pasta in the red sauce with the sausage first. Then it was simple to layer with alfredo sauce, and shredded Italian 3-cheese blend.

A half hour later we enjoyed a bubbling hot serving of classic comfort food.  This reheated well in the microwave for whomever dropped in for lunch over the next few days.  This makes a bunch, but I hate having a half a jar of pasta sauce greeting me every time I open the refrigerator.  (And my college kids won?t ever turn down leftover pasta when returning to school)

Just a note about preparing pasta.  It is a common misconception that ?al dente? - in it?s literal translation of ?to the tooth? - should stick to the teeth.  If pasta sticks to the teeth when being chewed, it is considered undercooked.  ?Al dente? pasta also has a lower glycemic index than pasta that is cooked soft - meaning that it takes longer for the carbohydrates to break down and release glucose into the bloodstream.  (A lower glycemic index usually means a lower insulin demand - and that?s a good thing...)

For this recipe for a good 'end-of-the-week' comfort dish - go to:

www.changeabletable.com