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Need dinner on the table in a hurry? This veggie and sausage pasta skillet is just what you need! Fine garlic sausage mixed with cauliflower, peas and pasta, all smothered in a lightened up cream sauce. A sausage pasta skillet for the win!
This post is sponsored by Grimm’s Fine Foods. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Love In My Oven possible.
You guys all know that life is pretty crazy around this place. 3 small kids. Enough said.
THAT being said, I am always looking for quick and easy meal ideas that will satisfy even the pickiest of my eaters. These meals need to have a few things in common:
- quick (under 30 minutes is ideal)
- easy
- FEW DISHES
The dishes! As you can imagine, all this food blog business tends to result in quite a few dishes! I actually find that on the days where I’m recipe testing or shooting photos of food for the blog, I have zero energy come dinner time. So, takeout is an option, but I’d rather have home-cooked food for the fam. This is where one-pan meals like this veggie and sausage pasta skillet come in handy!
My kids LOVE sausage!
In the summer our go-to meal is usually grilled sausage and vegetables, because everyone loves it. No fighting!
During the winter, I look for ways to avoid standing outside by the BBQ 😉
So, this is where Grimm’s fine garlic sausage comes in to play!
How do you make this sausage and pasta skillet?
First of all, you’ll want to use a fairly large skillet. Mine is 12″.
I like to start this sausage and vegetable skillet by sautéing onions and garlic, along with the sliced sausage. The sausage gets a nice crispiness to it when pan-fried!
After the sausage is fried, add the pasta and cauliflower florets to the pan, along with chicken (or veggie) stock, milk and a touch a flour. Bring everything to a boil, then let it all simmer for 10-11 minutes, or until the pasta is fork tender. If things are drying up too quickly, add a bit more stock to the pan.
Throw in some frozen peas and parmesan cheese, and stir it all together.
Serve the dish immediately, along with some crispy onions and fresh ground pepper on top! See, told you it all comes together quickly!
Is this veggie and sausage pasta skillet healthy?
I would say yes, in it’s own way! Of course, if you consider pasta unhealthy, then this probably isn’t for you. But if you’re just looking for a pretty hearty and nutritious meal for you and your family, then this is a great healthy option! This skillet has quite a few veggies, and the cream sauce is pretty light! No heavy alfredo sauces here.
How well do leftovers keep?
Since I made this a couple of times to get everything just right, I can confirm that the leftovers are just perfect! I would say that yes, this dish keeps very well! You can even freeze leftovers if you make an extra large batch.
I would recommend adding the crispy onions only when serving, since they do tend to get a little mushy after a while.
Other than that sound advice, all I can say is dig in!
Some other one pan dinners for you!
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Veggie and Sausage Pasta Skillet
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4-5 servings 1x
Description
Need dinner on the table in a hurry? This veggie and sausage pasta skillet is just what you need! Fine garlic sausage mixed with cauliflower, peas and pasta, all smothered in a lightened up cream sauce.Â
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb Grimm’s fine garlic sausage, sliced into 1/2” rounds
- 3 cups short-cut pasta*
- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 1 cup chicken stock (sub for veggie)
- 2 cups 1% milk**
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 3/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- optional:Â crispy onions, black pepper, for garnish
Instructions
- Heat a large 12″ skillet or fry pan over medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Allow the oil to heat up for 1-2 minutes before adding the diced onion and minced garlic. Sauté the onion and garlic for a couple of minutes before adding the sausage rounds. Fry the sausage until brown and crispy, about 5 minutes.
- Add the pasta, cauliflower, stock, milk and flour. Stir everything together until combined, being sure the flour is thoroughly dispersed into the liquid. Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn down to simmer over low-medium heat for 10-11 minutes, or until the pasta is fork-tender.*** Keep the lid on, with a slight crack to allow steam to escape.
- Turn the heat to low, and add the frozen peas and parmesan cheese. Stir to combine and cook for 5 minutes. Serve immediately, topping with crispy onions and black pepper for garnish.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container, for up to 2 days, or frozen for up to 2 months. Store the leftovers without the crispy onions.
Notes
* I used orecchiette pasta, but you can use any short-cut pasta you like (bow tie pasta, fiorelli, etc)
**Sub for unsweetened almond milk if dairy-free.
***If the liquid has evaporated before the pasta is cooked, add a bit more stock to continue cooking.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: dinner
- Method: one pan
Gosh, there is nothing I like better than a hearty pasta dish filled with wonderful ingredients and you sure have hit all of the check marks with your Veggie and Sausage Pasta Skillet, Katherine. I can sure see why your children (and adults alike) would love this appealing dish. We use Grimm’s sausage around our home and family a lot because they are gluten free and lactose free, and using orecchiette pasta just adds to the appeal of your delicious recipe. Thanks so much for sharing. I am pinning to make soon for my family.
Excited to give this one a try – you know me, work, school, pregnant with a toddler, quick and easy meals are my jam right now!
Oh man, Kristen! I can only imagine. You definitely need all of the quick and easy!!
Yummy! I love that this isn’t too heavy. Tons of veggies and 30 minutes make this a total weeknight winner. Thanks!
Yay! It’s definitely a lightened up version of a heavier meal. It’s such a great weeknight meal. Thanks Sabrina!
Sigh. You hit the nail on the head. Some days I’m cooking up a storm but no one can touch anything and other days I just can’t look at the stove haha. This sausage pasta skillet looks like a great compromise.
Haha yes!!! Exactly. It’s always the days that I’m recipe testing and photographing, I just don’t even want to go near the kitchen during dinner time! Thanks Bernice!
One pan and under 30-minutes?! Yes please!! I’m always looking for meals like this on busy weeknights and I’m loving everything in this dish!
Busy weeknights need easy meals right!? Thanks Kelly! I bet you’d love this one!!
You have to love one-pan dinners like this one. Perfect for weeknights! And I never thought to use garlic sausage this way. It looks delicious and it’s going on the menu next week at my house.
Yes, LOVE one-pan dinners! Thanks Colleen! I bet you’ll love it!
The family would definitely love this scrumptious skillet! xo
It’s a great, easy dinner!! Thanks Kim, happy weekend!! XO
Ohhh I don’t know if I can buy Grimm’s sausage here but I love the idea of the orecchiette skillet! Also, I didn’t know you have THREE small kids. I’m having a hard enough time with one. Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
Oh I hope you can!! They’re usually in most grocery stores in Canada. You could use a similar garlic sausage though!! Haha, having kids in general is chaos, adding on a few more is just slightly more chaotic 😉
I love the combination of sausage and cauliflower in this pasta dish!!
Pretty tasty! All these ingredients defonetely don’t fit in a 12 inch pan. I used a 12 inch and a 10 inch and half the recipe into each. It was delicious. I used polish kielbasa because I’m in the US and we don’t have that sausage.