Smoked Turkey Sausage with Thyme Cream Sauce

I have been on a fresh pasta "kick" lately, and I was itching to use what I brought home from the Farmer's Market so this is what the internet helped me come up with. Oh, and smoked sausage goes on everything, because it might be my favorite food. This is certainly not equivalent to eating celery, but as cream sauces go, it could be a whole lot worse.

I typically cook the sausage separately from anything else so it gets the crispy little brown bits on it. 

Fresh pasta is on a roll in my house, and I love that I can buy it at the market if I don't feel like destroying my kitchen to make my own.

Here it go:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups sliced smoked turkey sausage

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

salt

pepper

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoon dill

1/4 cup white wine

1 cup milk - I used 2% because it's what I had around

1/2 cup parmesean cheese

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup starchy pasta water - reserved

Instructions:
1. Using 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, brown the smoked sausage on both sides on medium heat. Remove from pan.
2. Add remaining olive oil, onions, salt, and pepper and cook until translucent. Add garlic, and cook for additional 3-4 minutes.
3. At this point, I start the salted water boiling for the pasta. Add the tried herbs to the onion/garlic mixture, along with the white wine. After a minute or two, add the milk and bring to simmer. Once pasta has finished, add the pasta water. Reduce by about 1/3 and then remove from heat.
4. Add cheese and ensure "sauce" is at desired thickness. Toss with drained pasta and top with browned sausage.

Gourmet? No. Delicious and easy? Yes.

The Best Cream Cheese Frosting

Happy birthday to my sweet husband! Age agrees with you. Personally, I think it is due to all the cupcakes I force you to sample until I get the frosting recipes right.  

The recipe is really easy, and kind of messy.

Since it was such a special occasion, I even got out the piping materials. They looked pretty until we jammed mini Reese's peanut butter cups into them. :)

Recipe: (literally takes 5 minutes or less)

 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of butter (1 stick), room temperature
• 8 oz of Philly cream cheese (1 package), room temperature
• 2 - 3 cups of powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1. In an electric mixer, mix cream cheese and butter until smooth. Tip: I put my metal mixing bowl in the freezer for 15 minutes before starting this - helps to keep temperature controlled.
2. Add powdered sugar little by little, taking care to periodically scrape the sides of the bowl down. Keep adding until sugar is at desired sweetness and consistency.
3. Add vanilla and mix thoroughly. This is also the time to add color, if desired.
4. Apply with spatula or piping bag.