Pasta la Vista Baby

I'm all settled in in Calgary now and I'm having a great time. I thought since I didn't know anyone here that I'd have a ton of spare time on my hands but between work, the commute to and from work and the gym, I haven't had a lot of spare time. Hence, the lack of blogging recently. So, I apologize for that.

I finished at the gym one day last week (it was right after work so I was starving) and I decided I was going to have pasta. I know, working out and then eating a big dish of pasta - kind of counterproductive right? Well, maybe but I try to eat healthy most of the time so sometimes, indulging in pasta is okay. Especially if it's made with turkey Italian sausage and without a thick, creamy sauce.

I knew I had cherry tomatoes and sausages at home so I stopped at the grocery store for some good extra virgin olive oil, some linguine and some fresh basil (my favourite herb) and I thought I'd throw something together. Here's what I used:

For the portion I made (which lasted me about 3 meals) I used

2 Sweet Italian turkey sausage links
One pint of cherry tomatoes
about a tbsp or so of extra virgin olive oil
about a quarter of the package of the linguine
2 cloves of garlic (not shown)
A package of fresh basil (I really like the stuff)
A diet Coke (for me to drink, not for in the recipe)

The first thing I did was get the water on to boil for the pasta. Remember to salt the water really well and don't be afraid. The pasta won't soak up all the salt. I literally fill up my hand and use about a half a cup of salt in the water.

First, brown the meat in some olive oil until it's just about cooked through in a large pan.

Next, I chopped the tomatoes in half and threw them in the pan to start softening. I also added the chopped garlic to this mix.

Then, all you do is let the mixture cook down until it's pretty soft (make sure to season it as well). Then, add the fresh chopped basil right at the end and the cooked pasta. Serve on a plate with some fresh parmesan cheese shaved over the top.

So yummy.

This was delicious and as long as you keep your portion size under control (which believe me, with pasta, is insanely hard for me) then it's really not that bad for you!