If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy...

Okay, so I have been remiss (REALLY remiss) in blogging lately. I just haven't had many great kid stories lately. I still want to blog and I thought to myself "Self, why limit yourself to only funny kid stories?" So, having been inspired by my friend InJoyTroye and websites like Stephanie O'Dea's 365 days of crockpotting, I am going to blog about a recipe. My Favorite Recipe, Mama's Pasta....mmmm just the name is like Pavlov's bell and makes my mouth water. So here it is:

Ingredients:

1 lb. Mild Italian Sausage (or Hot if that's how you roll)

1lb. Sweet Italian Sausage

1 Medium Onion

5-6 Cloves of Garlic, minced (or more if you LOVE it like I do)

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

3/4 cup white wine, whatever you like, but not cooking wine because it's salty

5 cups canned plum tomatoes in tomato juice (This is usually about 2 of the large cans)

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 1lb. box farfalle pasta (a.k.a. bowtie pasta)

1 15.5 oz can Navy Beans, drained

1 1/2 cups chopped fresh arugula

Alright, so I have to stop here for a minute and send a shout out to my Pampered Chef Consultant Melissa Jones for the awesome new cooking tools I earned for doing a show for her. I love my coated Santoku knife, because it is soooo sharp and cuts through everything like melted butter, however I really have to give PC mad props for the awesome black tool in the photo above. It is called a mix and chop and it takes browning ground meat from a chore to an art form. I will never go back to the old way. So, on to the recipe...

Crumble your sausage into a large pot, if it is in the form of links, remove the casing first. Add the onion, garlic and parsley and brown over high heat (this is where I used the mix and chop.) about 15 minutes or until the sausage is done.

Next, taste the wine to make sure it is still good (it might be a good idea to get a glass) and then add the 3/4 cup wine to the meat along with the tomatoes. Try to break up the tomatoes as best as you can, again the mix and chop came in very handy here. Let this simmer on medium for about 30 minutes.

Mmmm, can you smell that? Oh right, you can't because it's the internet, It smells good though.

While this is cooking, go ahead and chop up your arugula and cook the pasta according to the directions on the box. When you have cooked the meat mixture for 30 minutes, add salt & pepper to taste. Drain the pasta and stir it into the meat mixture. Add the beans and the arugula and let it cook until it is heated all the way through. Hint: the longer it cooks, the better it tastes.

This is really a one dish wonder, look at all the colors! It is really awesome and needs no side dishes or anything, you can just top it with some parmesan cheese and eat it up! As you can see, this dish not only makes Mama happy, it makes the whole family happy. Happy eating and tell me what you think of this dish!