Penne With Sausage and Pepper Sauce

If your little ones balk at even this mildly spicy sausage, substitute equal amounts of chicken sausage or leftover pork.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2 cups)

Ingredients

• 1  pound  penne
• 1  pound  sweet Italian sausage, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 1  medium onion, very thinly sliced
• 2  green peppers, or 1 red and 1 green, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  dried basil
• 1 1/2  cups  canned crushed tomatoes
• 1/2  cup  water or dry white wine
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Cook the penne according to package directions. Meanwhile, place the sausage in a large skillet filled with about 1/2 inch of water; simmer over high heat for 9 minutes.

2. While the sausage cooks, heat half of the oil over medium heat in another large skillet. Add the onion, the peppers, and half of the basil. Sauté for 9 minutes, stirring frequently.

3. Remove the sausage from the skillet with a slotted spoon; add it, with the remaining oil, to the onion-pepper mixture; cook for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, water or wine, salt and pepper, and remaining basil; simmer over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.

4. Toss the penne with the sausage and pepper sauce, and serve.