Creamy Mexican Pasta with Smoked Sausage Skillet Dinner

Creamy Mexican Pasta with Smoked Sausage

Creamy cheesy and delicious Mexican-style meal that’s on the table in 30 minutes.

Another dinner-in-a-dash recipe.

I’ve seen similar recipes all over the net and they all looked very tasty. I had some smoked sausage I wanted to use up so I decided to make a meal similar to what I’d seen.

Quick and tasty dinner

All of them used canned tomatoes–I have them; I’ll use them; but I’m not a huge fan. I prefer fresh and I did have a nice tub of grape tomatoes I’d just bought. Perfect!

I had a hankering for something sort of Mexican but I didn’t want canned tomatoes nor the Rotel variety since I didn’t want the green chilis.  I much prefer jalapenos. Yep, it makes this a bit zippy so if you’re a bit wimpy about heat, leave them out or substitute green chilis!  It’ll taste good.  All it will lack is the heat.

Pop it under the broiler for a bit of crunch

Any kind of cheese will do here.  I used jack cheese because I had about a 4 oz. block that I’d opened.  Jack cheese is creamy in texture so it’ll add to the already creamy texture of the sauce. But if you don’t have that, cheddar will do just fine!

If you are really in a hurry, for the final step, just place the shredded cheese on the top and cover the skillet–it’ll melt just fine.  I preferred to put it under the broiler, as was suggested in one of the many recipes I’d looked at.  I’d recommend doing that since it added a slight crunch and it just looked better.

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Creamy Mexican Pasta with Smoked Sausage Skillet Dinner

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time15 mins

Total Time30 mins

Servings: 4

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 1 lb smoked sausage -or- kielbasa
• 8 oz uncooked tubular pasta
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 tbs diced jalapenos fresh or canned
• 1 cup salsa
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup grape tomatoes
• 1/2 cup light or heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups shredded Monterrey jack cheese
• 1 tbs oil
• 1 green onion sliced thinly (for garnish)

Instructions

• Slice sausage in 1/4-inch slices.
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil; heat till oil is hot.
• Brown the sliced sausage on both sides. Add onion and saute for about 5 minutes.
• Add the pasta, jalapenos, salsa, chicken stock, tomatoes and cream. Stir well to combine. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to simmer. Cook until most liquid is absorbed by the pasta.
• Stir in 1/2 cup of the jack cheese, combining well so cheese melts.
• Remove from heat and top with the remaining cheese. Cover for 5 minutes or until cheese melts.
• -OR-
• If you used a completely oven-safe skillet, you may eliminate this last step and pop the entire skillet under the broiler for 5-8 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and just begins to brown.
• Garnish with sliced green onions.
• Serves 4.

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Creamy Mexican Pasta with Smoked Sausage

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