Mushroom and Sausage Pasta

This was an awesome meal! As you can see in the picture I didn't let the sauce thicken enough because my stomach was eating itself and it smelled so delicious. But my husband is going to be sad that he doesn't get this awesome meal right off the stove. I got this recipe from my awesome friend named Megan who was my inspiration to start this blog. She sent me to this link. 

Now, this is the first time I have ever cooked with shallots before. I always just used onions but I thought I would try shallots for once. I bought them at fresh and easy and if anyone is wondering what to look for, this is what mine looked like. I also only used 1 cup of mushrooms because its all I had but I wish I would have used the 3 that it called for. It still had good flavor but the mushrooms is what makes this dish so good so use three cups if possible. 

As far as cooking with mushrooms, I don't really  have experience with the different kinds of mushrooms I usually just pick randomly at the grocery store. Are certain mushrooms used for certain dishes or are do different mushrooms grow at different seasons? Let me know. I'd love to try more dishes with them.

Now onto the recipe that you have all been waiting for. 

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 pound dried pasta
• 13 ounces ground mild Italian sausage (about 4 links removed from casings)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cups sliced crimini mushrooms (I used baby bella mushrooms)
• 1/4 cup diced shallots
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1 cup mushroom broth (I substituted with chicken broth)
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1/4 cup light sour cream
• 2 ounces cream cheese softened
• 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
• salt and pepper

Directions: 

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile while pasta is cooking, brown Italian sausage in a pan over medium heat. Once browned transfer to a plate.
3. In the same pan that you cooked the sausage in add two tablespoons of olive oil and heat over medium heat.  Stir in mushrooms, shallots and garlic. Cook 5 minutes or until mushrooms are softened and brown.
4. Pour in wine and mushroom broth allow to cook for 5 minutes. Scrape any brown bits that have stuck to the bottom of the pan. Return sausage to the pan.
5. Stir one tablespoon of the hot broth into the half and half to temper it. (I have never tempered anything before. Basically this is to get the temperature of the half and half slowly warmer instead of shocking it by dumping it straight into the warm sauce pan.)
6. Stir tempered half and half, sour cream and cream cheese into broth. Continue cooking until the cream cheese has melted and the sauce has thickened slightly, 5 -7 minutes.
7. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce. Stir to coat. Remove from heat and let stand 5 minutes. Stir once more and add chopped parsley. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

 ENJOY!