Gretchen grew up on this simple pasta dish. Her Mom, Debbie, loves garlic and created this dish one night with ingredients she had on hand. It became a weeknight staple for Gretchen and she now makes it also the time for her family.
This is a “trust your gut” kind of recipe. Like even more garlic? Go for it. Not salty enough? Add more. Taste and adjust at the end until it’s a spicy, garlicky, salty bowl of wonderful.
Ingredients
• 5 cloves of minced garlic
• Olive Oil
• Red Pepper Flakes
• Cooked Mild Italian Sausage Links
• Grated Parmesan Cheese
• Salt & Pepper
Instructions
1. Place minced garlic cloves in saute pan. (Gretchen uses Trader Joe’s frozen and lets them melt in pan before she starts.)
2. Cover garlic with about 1/4 cup olive oil. This is an eyeball measurement and is the “sauce” you will put on the pasta. If it’s not enough, add more to your liking.
3. Add a decent pinch of red pepper flakes in the olive oil. Don’t like spice, skip this part.
4. Heat the oil, garlic and red pepper over medium low heat until the oil bubbles and you just smell the garlic. Remove from heat and constantly stir until it stops bubbling so as to not burn the garlic. Set aside.
5. Cut the mild italian sausage links into “coins". Place sausage coins in a skillet and cook over medium heat. Flip to get both sides nice and browned. Don't miss this step!
6. Mix pasta of your choice (Gretchen’s Mom always used spaghetti but her kids like a smaller pasta i.e. bowtie or penne), browned sausage, garlic oil, LOTS of grated parmesan (think 3/4 cup to 1 cup) and salt and pepper.
7. Taste and adjust cheese and salt and pepper until it’s just right.
Gretchen likes to serve with steamed broccoli. Enjoy!