One-Skillet Italian Sausage Pasta

You will need a 5 1/2 quart braiser or a large skillet with lid.

Heat braiser or skillet over medium high heat. Add olive oil, then sausage. Cook sausage for 3 minutes, breaking up while cooking.

Lower heat to medium low. Add onion and mushrooms and cook and stir for one minute. Stir in garlic and Italian seasoning. Cover skillet and continue to cook until onion is translucent. Stir periodically.

Crush tomatoes well by hand or with a potato masher (watch out, the tomatoes will squirt when crushed). An immersion blender can also be used to break up tomatoes; simply pulse it a few times. Add tomatoes and juice to ingredients in the pan. Stir to combine. Add chicken stock (or broth) and salt. Stir well.

Raise heat to medium and bring to a boil. Add pasta; stir well. Cover skillet and cook until pasta is almost al dente (refer to your package instructions for al dente cook time), stirring frequently to keep pasta from sticking to bottom of skillet or clumping together.

Turn off heat and remove pan from burner. Gently stir in grated Parmesan until melted. Scatter mozzarella evenly over top. Place lid over skillet and allow mozzarella to melt, 2-3 minutes. Sprinkle with torn basil leaves and serve immediately.

Notes: Except for initially cooking the sausage, only cook this meal over medium or medium low heat. Cooking over higher heat will cause the ingredients to stick to the bottom of the pan and/or burn.

Recipe adapted from Pink Parsley.