Last Minute Supper

I pulled out Italian sausage links for a last minute supper today. I pulled them out this morning with no idea how I was going to use them.

At some point around noon I did a Google search “recipe Italian sausage onion pasta”.

I knew I didn’t want a tomato base recipe, so I looked for anything without tomatoes. I found a recipe called Creamy Italian Sausage Pasta.

It wasn’t exactly what I was looking for because I didn’t have all the ingredients the recipe called for. But I decided I could adjust. When you’re looking at “last minute” you look at how you can improvise for this last minute supper.

Substitutions

This recipe called for penne pasta. I already had a different type of pasta open, so I use it instead.

Cooked pasta
Cooked, strained pasta

The recipe called for a ground Italian sausage but I was using link. I just cut it up in small slices and used it instead.

The recipe called for adding cream. I did add cream, but my husband likes a gravy so I added about 2 1/2 Tbls of flour first. I didn’t drain the grease, added the four and then added the approximately 2 cups of cream to make a roux, then a gravy.

Raw cream
Local raw cream

I buy whole raw milk from a neighbor weekly and usually make butter out of the cream. I’ve been putting the butter in the freezer, so I decided I could use the cream for this instead this week.

Once I made the roux, I shredded a little more than a cup of shredded parmesan cheese. I stirred it in until it was melted.

Then I added steamed broccoli and cauliflower instead of the called for spinach. I really love spinach. But I didn’t have any, so I improvised.

Improv for a last minute supper

The best part of this last minute supper is to improvise the ingredients you don’t have or don’t want with what you do have or what you like better.

Broccoli in pasta.
Broccoli in pasta

Don’t be afraid to try a new recipe, with your own twists. You’ll be surprised how good it can be.

Tell me how you improvise on recipes and share with the rest of us.

Until next time…

Health, Wealth & Blessing~ Tracy