Passionate Homemaking

This is one of our all time favorite spe­cial din­ners! It works espe­cially good for guests when you want to make some­thing simple and yet deli­cious and appeal­ing to all tastes. I would not con­sider it to be the most frugal of dishes, but it is one that you can def­i­nitely cut back on the amount of meat to suit your tastes and budget!

My sister-​in-​law sent me the orig­i­nal recipe a long while ago and it has been passed around so much since among family and friends. At every event I have served it there are more requests for the recipe.

1 pack­age (16 ounces) brown rice penne pasta (pre­ferred due to the low amount of phy­tates over other whole grain pastas, unless sprouted)
2 tea­spoon olive or coconut oil (coconut is best over high heat)
4-5 cups (1/4 inch thick) sliced red bell pepper (approx. 4 large bell pep­pers), each cut in half cross­wise (I have also used var­i­ous col­ored bell pep­pers in com­bi­na­tion together with great results!)
1 tea­spoon sea salt, divided
16 ounces Ital­ian sausage (I love this with chicken Ital­ian sausage from our local Trader Joe’s - deli­cious! I usu­ally get by just fine with 1/2 pound)
2 tea­spoons dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup (about 1, 5-6 oz small con­tainer) crum­bled feta cheese
1 (15 oz can) black olives, sliced (or kala­mata, if desired)
1/2 tea­spoon black pepper

Cook the pasta accord­ing to the pack­age direc­tions. Under­cook­ing is best, as it will con­tinue cook­ing when you add to the other ingredients.

Saute the bell pep­pers and 1/2 tea­spoon salt for 2 min­utes in olive or coconut oil. Remove cas­ings, if nec­es­sary, from the sausage. Add sausage, oregano, and garlic to pan; cook for 4 min­utes until sausage is done; stir­ring to crum­ble. Add pasta, 1/2 tea­spoon salt, cheese, olives, and black pepper; cook for 2 min­utes or until thor­oughly heated, stir­ring frequently.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Enjoy! Espe­cially great as leftovers!

Adapted originally from a Cooking Light recipe.