easy pasta dinners

Italian Sausage Parmigiana, for this dish, flavorful Italian sausage is topped with pasta sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses and crunchy breadcrumbs.

Italian Sausage Parmigiana

tbsp. Canola Oil

lb. Mild Italian Sausage ((about 4-5 links))

Water

Meatless Pasta Sauce (for the sausage,

Garlic Powder

Oregano

Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

Panko Breadcrumbs

tbsp. Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese

Spaghetti (cooked to package directions for al-dente)

Salt

Fresh Chopped Parsley (optional)

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add the Italian sausage to the skillet. Cook for 4-5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides.

Carefully add 1 cup of water to the skillet, lower the heat to medium-low and cover. Cook the sausage for approximately 15-20 minutes or until the internal temperature of the Italian sausage is at least 165°F. Give the pan a quick shake every once in a while, or turn the sausage to make sure they don't burn.

Allow the sausage to cool on a plate or cutting board.

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350°F, and start a large pot of water on high heat for the pasta.

When the Italian sausage is cool enough to handle, butterfly each piece. Cut the sausage in half, lengthwise, without going all the way through.&nbsp;Open the sausage so it lays flat on a baking sheet.

Spoon about 1 tbsp. of the pasta sauce over each sausage.&nbsp;Sprinkle the sauce with the garlic powder and dried oregano.

Add the mozzarella cheese (about 1 ½ - 2 tbsp. for each sausage)

Top each sausage with 1-2 tbsp. of the crunchy panko breadcrumbs.

Finally, sprinkle the top with a little Parmesan cheese.

Once the Italian sausage parmigiana is prepped, drop the pasta into the boiling water. Make sure you add a generous amount of salt to the pot. Cook the pasta to package directions for al-dente.

Warm the sauce for the pasta.

Place the sausage in the oven, bake for 15 minutes or so until the cheese is melted.

If desired switch the oven to broil for a couple of minutes to toast the breadcrumbs and brown the cheese a bit. If you decide to do this, do not leave the oven’s side. The Italian sausage parmigiana can go from beautifully golden to burnt in a minute! Switch the oven light on and stay put. As soon as the top is perfectly golden, remove the baking sheet from the oven.

Garnish with the parsley, if desired.

When the pasta is done, reserve about a ½ cup of pasta cooking water, drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Add the reserved pasta water to the spaghetti to prevent it from sticking, give it a good stir.

Serve the Italian sausage parmigiana on a bed of sauced spaghetti.

In this lemon pepper pasta, fettuccine noodles are combined with a delicious lemon pepper sauce.

Lemon Pepper Pasta

Linguine (cooked to package directions for al dente)

Salt (divided)

¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Butter

Large Garlic Clove (grated

Lemon Juice

Lemon Zest

Pasta Cooking Water

Parsley (chopped)

Parmesan Cheese (for serving)

​Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add 2 tablespoons of salt and the linguine. Stir the pasta frequently for the first few minutes of cooking time. Cook the pasta to package directions for al dente.

While the pasta cooks:  Heat a skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil and the butter. Heat until the butter is melted and foamy.

Lower the heat to medium-low and add the garlic. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Lower the heat to low and add the lemon juice, lemon zest, ¼ teaspoon of salt and the fresh ground pepper to the skillet. Stir to combine the ingredients well and cook gently for another minute or two.

Remove the skillet from the heat and set aside until the pasta is done and drained.

Before draining the pasta, reserve about ¼ cup of the pasta cooking water.

Drain the pasta completely, and return it to the pot. Toss the pasta with the lemon sauce, reserved cooking water and the parsley.

Serve the lemon pepper pasta with extra black pepper and Parmesan cheese.

Amazing! Even my teenager went back for seconds, which is very surprising..thanks for such a flavorful meal!

Love this recipe. Have made it twice, and it was a hit both times

For my taste it had way too much oil.  Made another batch of sauce with oil and it was much better.

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Italian Sausage Parmigiana

Lemon Pepper Pasta

Top 2 easy pasta dinners recipes from across the web

The most viewed easy pasta dinners recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

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Italian Sausage Parmigiana

Lemon Pepper Pasta

The most viewed easy pasta dinners recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine