3-2-1 Pasta Formula

I found this idea at another of my favorite food blogs Good Life Eats. It's a simple formula to make a yummy pasta dish with mostly pantry items. Here is the original post. Basically, use 3 cups of veggies (2 types, different colors), 2 cups of meat (your choice, cut into bite sized pieces), 1 onion, 1 8oz box of pasta (your choice of shape). Throw in some garlic and white wine and you're good to go! And you can change it up and have totally different meals!

My families favorite version is almost exactly what's posted on Good Life Eats. Sometimes I use sugar snap peas instead of broccoli and I make a few other very minor changes. Either way, it gets 4 out of 5 thumbs up (my youngest always throws that off!). It's easy and I almost always have most of the ingredients on hand, if I don't then I use what I do have!

Spicy Bow Tie Pasta with Broccoli and Sausage

• 2 cups broccoli florets, cooked till tender crisp
• 1 cup sundried tomatoes, soaked in oil, drained
• 1 package of about 5 brats or sweet italian sausages
• 1 onion, sliced thinly
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper, more if you like
• salt and pepper to taste
• 8 ounces bow tie pasta, cooked according to package instructions

*When I cook the pasta, I add the broccoli to the pot for the last 2 minutes to cook it.
  In a large saute pan, drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil. Heat over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, cooking until browned on all sides. Remove sausage and slice into rounds. Return to pan. Add onion to the sausage and saute until the onion is tender, about 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and saute 1 minute more.

Deglaze the pan with the white wine, making sure to scrape up all the browned bits. Stir in the tomatoes, pasta, and broccoli. Season to taste with salt and pepper and sprinkle with crushed red pepper. Serve topped with grated Parmesan cheese.