Sausage & White Bean Pasta

Ask my husband and he is sure to tell you that this is my "go to" meal!  Its just so good, so easy, filling and nutritious!  I typically never really make it the same way twice.  The great thing about this blog, is that it might force me to actually write one of my recipes down once and a while so I can remember it next time I want to make it!
I go heavy on the beans and sausage and lighter on the pasta in this dish.  We are trying to limit the amount of refined carbs we take in, so this is a great meal for getting a little taste of pasta, but not over doing it.  Its all about moderation!  Enjoy!

 

Sausage & White Bean Pasta
Ingredients:

1/4-1/2 box of any type of dried Pasta.  I like penne or rotini for this dish.

1 TBS Olive Oil

1/2 Onion chopped

1 clove of Garlic chopped
(I use my garlic press)

1 Cup of White Beans
(I prefer to use dry beans and soak them overnight and cook them on the stove top.  I really prefer the taste and texture much more than canned beans.  They are also much healthier for you that way.  Canned is absolutely fine to use though.  Many a time I have used can and it still tastes good).

2 Pork or Chicken Sausages
(halved and sliced  I really like pork in this particular dish.  The sausage I used was a Salt and Pepper pre cooked pork sausage from Whole Foods)

1 tsp of fresh chopped Oregano

1/2 Cup of Chicken Stock
(I really like to use homemade for cooking, but canned or boxed stock will suffice) 

3 TBS of Mascarpone Cheese

3 TBS of Parmesan Cheese

Instructions:

Heat the olive oil in sauté pan on medium
Add the onion and sliced sausage
Cook until the sausage is brown and the onion begins to brown and become translucent
Add the garlic.  Let that cook about 1-2 min.  Garlic burns easily, so keep and eye on it.
Add the beans and the chicken stock to de-glaze the pan.
Simmer on Medium-Low until the sauce starts to thicken up and reduce
Add the oregano, mascarpone and Parmesan cheese.
Mix everything well
Add the cooked pasta to the sauté pan.  Be sure to reserve some of the pasta water in case you need to thin the sauce out at the end.
Mix well and serve!
I usually sprinkle a little Parmesan cheese on top as well.

This dish really has endless possibilities, throw in some spinach, kale, broccoli, or whatever!