Penne with goat cheese, broccoli rabe and chicken sausage

We are pasta lovers here. I love pasta for it's ease and speed. A fabulous and flavorful meal can be prepared in no time at all. While I adore pasta, I really do get bored of the same old red sauce all the time. My daughter and I had a pasta with broccoli rabe (at Molto in Fairfield, CT) that was fabulous. But it was greasy. I wanted to keep the flavor the same but cut out some of the fat and calories. For starters, I substituted regular sausage for turkey sausage. (Chicken sausage works well too.) I used a minimal amount of olive oil and tossed in a little bit of crumbled goat cheese to create a rich and creamy consistency. The goat cheese ended up complementing the broccoli rabe and the sausage perfectly!

1 box of pasta (any shape) cooked per directions on the box. (I really prefer Barilla)
2 bunches of brocolli rabe, washed and trimmed
2 packages of good quality chicken or turkey sausage. (4 to 5 sausages per package)
1/2 cup of crumbled goat cheese
2 tbs (eyeballed) of olive oil, plus more for cooking
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Add some non stick spray or olive oil to a large saute pan. Then add sausages, cut into 1/2 inch slices to the pan. Do not add all sausages at once! Cook so that the sausages are well browned on both sides. When done place on a plate lined with paper towel. Repeat until all the sausages are cooked.

Meantime add water to a large pot and bring to a boil. When boiling add pasta to the water and cook per directions on box, approx 9 - 11 minutes.

When the sausages are done add a dash of olive oil to the pan and toss in the broccoli rabe. When broccoli rabe is well cooked, maybe 7 minutes, remove and set aside.

When pasta is done, drain and place back into pan. Into the pan toss 2 tbs of olive oil, the sausages, brocolli rabe and goat cheese. Toss well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This is a great meal to serve on those night when your kids are all over the map between after school sports and extra-curricular activities.