Cooking After Class: Sausage and Mushroom Pasta

The kids were asking for pasta so I found this Sausage and Mushroom Pasta and thought we’d give it a try. It was pretty easy to throw together on a busy weeknight when time is of the essence.

This Sausage and Mushroom Pasta looked delicious but when I really read through the recipe, I realized I was going to need to make quite a few substitutions. I tried to lighten it up a bit with turkey sausage instead of pork. If I make it again, I may eliminate the heavy cream and use pasta water instead. I liked it with the cream but not sure I needed to cream in order to like it.

Substitutions/Additions made by Cooking After Class for Sausage and Mushroom Pasta:

use 16 oz of turkey sausage instead of 6 oz pork sausage
used Baby Bella mushrooms instead of cremini
only had dried sage so I used 1/2 tablespoon of that instead of fresh
used penne pasta instead of fresh lasagna sheets
didn’t have pepitas so I put out sunflower seeds for the kids to sprinkle on the pasta

Tips from Cooking After Class for making Sausage and Mushroom Pasta:

Buy frozen butternut squash at the grocery store…big time saver!
When you need heavy cream for a recipe here and there, consider freezing the leftover cream prior to the expiration date. I freeze mine in 1/4 cup cubes. When I need heavy cream, I grab a cube from the freezer. No more wasted heavy cream going down the drain at my house 🙂

Here’s the cube I took out for tonight’s dinner. I placed in into the sauce directly out of the fridge. It melted right into the sauce in no time at all. I freeze my cream in containers like these silicone molds. The lids are handy. I only have one set so once the cubes are frozen, I store them in an airtight container so I can use the molds for other ingredients.

RECIPE" Sausage and Mushroom Pasta with Butternut Squash