visiting an old standby

growing up, one of the italian traditions that my family always followed was pasta on sunday. i often wonder if my mom ever had any traditions that we ignored because the italians were louder and therefore, won out... the only one i can think of that was 'mom's side' tradition is thanksgiving. but thats fairly irrlevant right now...

anyway, i had kind of abandoned the pasta on sunday tradition in college - mostly because we ate pasta about 6 times a week due to the cheapness of it - and then after that, i was totally sick to death of pasta... then there was the whole 'white flour is bad, carbs are bad, everything you like is bad' diets that infiltrated society and made eating pasta seem like a mortal sin...

regardless, i dont have many food traditions that i follow on a weekly basis anymore, but when the pasta craving hits, i tend to save it for sundays, because it just feels right that way.

this is a whole lot of crap just to get to the half-recipe that i'm about to share, isnt it?
i dont really consider what i did last night cooking because i didnt make anything from scratch, but its a pretty good little meal anyway - and quick on top of that... unfortunately for you, i finally understand why my italian grandmother can never give me an actual recipe - because she just eyeballs things... i'm making my best attempt at telling you the proportions of what goes in here, but feel free to change based on your taste or if something just doesnt seem right, because this is hardly an exact recipe.

This could also easily be made with regular sausage or without feta (though thats half the fun) or with a different vegetable... its really just a guideline for a quick & yummy sunday night meal...

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Gemelli with Veggie Sausage
courtesy of me

2 Boca italian sausages
1/2 lb gemelli pasta
2 c broccoli florettes
1 - 2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 jar Newman's Own Sockarooni pasta sauce
1 - 2 cloves garlic - minced
3 oz feta crumbles
1/8 c grated peccorino-romano cheese (parmesan would work as well)
1/4 c pine nuts

Place italian sausages in covered frying pan with 1/2 - 1 c of water and cook over medium heat for 10 - 12 minutes.

At the same time, bring salted water to a boil and put the pasta in when the water is boiling. (about 5 - 6 minutes after beginning the sausage). Cook pasta ~6 minutes, then place broccoli florettes in the pan with it and cook another ~6 minutes, or until pasta is al dente.

Once the sausage has cooked and is softened, drain out water and put olive oil in the pan. Lower the heat to med-low. Cut sausages into 1/4s and brown in the oil, rolling a couple of times to brown on each side, for 3 - 4 minutes, uncovered.

Once browned, lower heat to low and add the garlic. Then pour pasta sauce into the frying pan with the sausage. be careful as sauce will most likely want to splatter when it hits the oil.

Once pasta & brocolli are done cooking, drain and put it into the frying pan with the sausage. stir until pasta is coated.

Add feta, peccorino-romano and most of the pine nuts and stir.

Remove from heat and place into bowls. Garnish with a few pine nuts.

Serves 2.