Creamy Penne with Chicken Apple Sausage, Asparagus, and Mascarpone Cheese

For tonight's feature presentation........Runner's Recovery aka
"Creamy Penne with Chicken Apple Sausage, Asparagus, and Mascarpone Cheese"!

So, my husband is a machine. He's amazingly fit and many people joke that he must be running to work off all of the incredible looking dishes that I post on Facebook.  For this, I thank u and say, "Well, it don't hurt!"
He's been prepping for an Endurance Race in Beaver Creek in a few weeks which will be the longest he's ever run, (stay tuned for that recap) and he's been training pretty hard. Tuesdays he runs around the base of a freakin mountain in the foothills of Denver. Like I said...machine. Anyway, for these high impact days, he's put in a special request for a high carb pasta dish... I shall oblige.
So for today I'll be whipping up a lil whole wheat penne with some fresh veg, chicken apple sausage, toasted walnuts, mascarpone cheese and non-fat cream.

I chose this dish because I looked around my kitchen and these were the ingredients I found. Should be good.
-Start with cooking your penne al dente and then set aside.

Here's a lil tip: always reserve 1 cup or so of the water you cooked the pasta in. It works great to thicken up your sauce and give it a little depth.

-Next, dry roast your nuts. 

Heat a sauté pan on high until you can hold your hand just above it and feel the heat, then toss in your nuts. Roast for 5 minutes or so while keeping the pan moving so they don't burn. They'll start to smell nice n woodsy when they're done. Remove from pan and once they've cooled, chop em up a bit with either a good knife or I like to use a small nut chopper. It's much easier to handle.

These lil choppers are the best! They chop onions, nuts or even herbs very nicely and clean up easily. I have em in a variety of sizes and got them all at thrift stores for maybe $1 each. A lot of people buy them or get them as gifts n never use them...but I will!!

You can choose to chop them very fine and they'll really thicken up your sauce and give it a  nice, rich nutty flavor (although it will make it slightly gritty) or just lightly chop them and it'll add a nice crunchy texture to your pasta dish.

I chose a medium chop this time for thickening and texture!

-Next, chop up your sausage. 
I like to do this before I cook it so that it heats evenly and you don't have to try to handle it when it's hot.
I got these luscious all-natural lil beauties from the Broomfield Farmer's Market last week where I volunteer on Tuesdays. They taste a little sweet and incredibly fresh, they only have like 3 or 4 ingredients, no preservatives and are locally "grown". This makes me feel a little better about consuming meat. I like knowing that it comes from the nice little couple who own the farm just outside of Longmont, CO and produce High Plains Meats all by themselves.

 -Add a lil olive or coconut oil to the same pan you roasted the nuts in and cook just until brown.
-As they're browning, toss in a huge handful of fresh chopped tarragon. 

This is when it starts to smell amazing!

 -Grab a stalk of asparagus and bend it until it snaps. This will ensure that you only eat the most tender part of the stalk. Then chop it into bit-size pieces and toss it into the pan.

-Cook for about 5 mins until asparagus starts to get a little crispy.

 -Toss in the pasta and mascarpone then stir to coat the noodles.
 Let that simmer for a minute or 2 then add some fat-free half&half. You can then add some of the reserved liquid from the pasta if you'd like a thicker sauce. Simmer until you reach a consistency you're happy with.

HERE"S THE KICKER!!!!

 NUTMEG!! This is really the star of your dish. I know some of you are saying "Nutmeg???" Yep! You'll wonder where it's been all your life. Nutmeg, tarragon and creamy sauces are a match made in heaven! And I'm lucky to have had walnuts on hand because they're just the icing on the cake! The combination of these flavors along with the asparagus will totally surprise and delight you!

-Grate the nutmeg into your sauce, I like TONS of it.
-Toss in your roasted nuts and some freshly ground coriander.
-Give it a good dose of S&P to taste and you're good to go!

Mmm...creamy goodness!

Lil tip: Put some olive oil in a $1 spritzer bottle to control how much you use.

 For a delicious lil crostini on the side, slice up some bread and spritz it with olive oil and S&P, bake for 5-8 minutes until edges start to get crunchy.

In this case I used a loaf of Rustic Pugliese which has a slight hint of sourdough. I don't recommend it with this type of sauce. I think a nice rosemary ciabbata woulda been perfect. But you gotta work with what u got! 

 This dish was a HUGE hit. The super fresh flavor of the tarragon with the nutmeg will make your mouth go crazy! Garnish with chopped tarragon and a little freshly grated parmesan, pour yourself a nice big glass of red wine and enjoy!

Creamy Penne with Chicken Apple Sausage, Asparagus, and Mascarpone Cheese

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups Whole Wheat Penne
1 cup Walnuts
2 Chicken Apple Sausages
1/2 lb Fresh Asparagus
1/4 cup or more Fresh Tarragon Leaves
1/3 cup Mascarpone Cheese
2 tsps or so Grated WHOLE Nutmeg (makes a huge difference)
1/4 tsp Fresh Ground Coriander
1/4 cup Fat-Free half&half or milk
S&P
Fresh Grated Parmesan for garnish (optional)

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