Broccoli's Big Debut

my husband and i have been married for almost 3 months and have been together for almost 3 years and we have never had broccoli in the house. This is not an exaggeration. This is not to say that we don't eat our greens, we have spinach all the time, edamame is a staple in my diet and peas have been seen on more than one occasion. Neither of us really enjoys broccoli but for some reason i was all set to include broccoli in our dinner last night. So, if you are looking for a way to incorporate more broccoli into your diet i highly recommend this meal.

Spicy Sausage & Broccoli with Pasta

you will need:

2-3 cloves of garlic
olive oil
crushed red pepper flakes
3 large hot sausage links
1 bunch of broccoli
1/2 box pasta - i used spaghetti bc its the only thing i had on hand but i recommend a smaller pasta like penne or even orzzo or plain risotto.

what to do:

in a large pot add water and salt (remember it helps to flavor the food as well as to help speed up the water boiling!!) while your waiting for the water to boil cut up the broccoli. once the water boils add the broccoli.

in a large frying pan add a little bit of olive oil. remember that you do not need to add much bc the oil from the sausage will help to keep it from sticking to the pan. while that heats up remove the casing from each of the sausage links (if you've never done this before its quite an experience) and add the sausage to the pan. break up the sausage with a spoon or spatula. it takes about 8 minutes to cook and while its cooking it become easier to break up.

after you get the sausage going (about 4 mins) take a large slotted spoon and remove the broccoli into a strainer. run the broccoli under cold water. then add the pasta to the pot of boiling water and continue to cook the pasta for about 8 minutes.

while you are waiting for the sausage and pasta to finish chop up your garlic. When the sausage has about a minute left add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes. mix those together and then add the broccoli to the pan. turn the heat to low

the pasta should be ready now so transfer the pasta into your serving bowl then add the sausage and broccoli on top.

enjoy!!

ps i just had our leftovers for lunch today and it tasted amazing!! and i'm so proud of myself because i've had broccoli twice in 2 days now!

here is a picture of cosmo, waiting patiently for a little sausage treat!