Heinzen Rigatoni

When I was still in Primary, the Priests and Laurels had a cook-off as one of their mutual activities. The girls cooked Chicken Cordon Bleu, the boys (my oldest brother, Ammon, included) cooked this. The verdict? The Priests won!

This is a delicious "lite" version of your regular rigatoni. If you prefer a heavier, creamier sauce, this may not be for you.

Ingredients:
1 1 lb. package of Rigatoni (I used Penne because that's what I had on hand.)

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 lb. Lite Jimmy Dean Sausage (33% less fat)

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion chopped
1 lb. sliced mushrooms
2-3 garlic cloves pressed
1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning
Ground Black Pepper to taste

1 cup heavy cream
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese (use fresh parmesan if you can!)

1. Cook rigatoni in boiling water til aldente.

2. Meanwhile, in a separate pot, heat 1 Tbls. olive oil and brown the sausage. (Jimmy Dean Lite sausage has almost no fat so you'll definitely need a little olive oil. As a result, you won't need to drain the sausage after you brown it). When sausage is cooked through, remove and set aside in a bowl.

3. Heat 1 Tbls. olive oil in the same pot you cooked the sausage. Add onion, mushrooms and garlic. Saute until onion is transparent and mushrooms are tender but not mushy. Once vegetables are cooked, add sausage back to the pot and add 1 Tbls. Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

4. Drain pasta. Return it to the pot and add the meat mixture, heavy cream and parmesan cheese. Mix well and keep warm.

*If you desire a creamier sauce, just add more cream.

*To make this recipe even lighter, use whole wheat rigatoni and half n' half in place of the cream.

Source: My mother, Alexandria Heinzen