Serve this dish solo or with a side salad of packaged spinach, orange pieces, pear chunks, and a drizzle of bottled balsamic vinaigrette.

8 oz. dried rigatoni
1 12-oz. pkg. cooked sweet Italian poultry sausage links or chicken-and-apple sausage links (4 links)
2 medium sweet peppers (yellow, red, and/or orange), cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1/2 cup vegetable broth or beef broth
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/4 cup snipped fresh basil or Italian parsley
Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. Cook pasta according to package directions with a pinch of salt; drain. Return pasta to saucepan. Meanwhile, cut the sausage into 1-inch pieces. In a large skillet cook sausage and sweet peppers over medium heat until sausage is brown.

2. Stir the broth* and crushed red pepper into skillet. Bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Pour over pasta; add basil. Toss gently to coat. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Makes 4 servings.

*NOTE: Because this is a broth-based sauce, choose a full-flavored one that you like. We used Imagine Organic Vegetable Broth (www.imaginefoods.com). If you’re serving white wine with dinner, try adding a couple tablespoons of wine to the broth.

Per serving: 364 cal., 6 g fat (2 g sat. fat), 56 mg chol., 724 mg sodium, 48 g carbo., 3 g fiber, 26 g protein.  

HEALTH NOTE
Not all sausages are equal when it comes to fat content. By replacing Italian pork sausages with sweet Italian poultry sausages, you reduce the fat by two-thirds. For Applegate Farms organic poultry sausages (one of our favorites), see www.applegatefarms.com.