Italian Sausage with Faux Bechamel

Heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Brown the sausage, breaking it into pieces. Once browned, take the sausage out of the pan using a slotted spoon and set it on a paper towel to drain the grease.

Meanwhile heat some salted water in another pot to boil the pasta according to package directions. You don’t want to boil the pasta too early as you want to add the hot pasta right out the pot to the sauce. When it’s done, drain the pasta but make sure to save some of the pasta water in case you need to thin down the sauce.

Using the same pan as the sausage, heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat and saute the onions. When they are softened, add in the asparagus and saute for about 5 minutes more, until tender.

Take out the asparagus and onions and set them aside. Into the same skillet, add the last 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan. Once it’s melted, add in the 2 tablespoons of flour and stir until combined. Add the wine, salt, nutmeg and white pepper and stir to combine. Then add the chicken broth and lactaid. Stir until bubbly. Add the cheese and let melt. Then add the cooked sausage, onions, and asparagus. Continue to stir while sauce thickens.

When the noodles are cooked, add them to the sauce. Stir to combine, adding in pasta water to thin out the sauce if needed.