Pasta with Parmesan White Sauce and Summer Sausage

When I was visiting my family for my niece's birthday, naturally the dinner choices were either go out or I would need to cook. Since we had already been out twice during the visit, I decided to make dinner. My mom presented me with a package of summer sausage, and I remembered that the magazine I read on the plane had a recipe for Summer Sasuage Alfredo. I figured that if I made a simple white sauce it would probably be a little healthier so I made the following...

Pasta with Parmesan White Sauce and Summer Sausage

12 oz pasta

1 package summer sausage

3+1 sliced green onions, separated 

1/2 to 1 cup sweet peas

4 cocktail tomatoes or 2 Roma, cut into quarter sized pieces

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper

Parmesan cheese for garnish 

Parmesan White Sauce

2 tbsp Parmesan 

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp floor

1 cup milk

Dash of salt

Cook pasta and sweet peas according to their packages. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Slice the sausage into bitesize pieces. When the oil is hot, sauté the sausage in the skillet. 

Meanwhile, make the sauce by heating the butter in a small sauce pan. Add the flour and sauté for a minute or so. Slowly whisk in the milk as the sauce thickens. Reduce the heat to low. Add the salt and Parmesan cheese. Stir until cheese is melted. 

Add three green onions and tomatoes to the sausage and cook for 1-2 minutes. Stir in the pasta, peas, and sauce. Spoon into bowls. Top with more Parmesan, and the remaining green onion, salt, and pepper. 

Notes: when I make this again, I'd like to try swapping the peas with either green beans or broccoli and top it with some fresh parsley. 

Hummus and Egg (and Bacon!) Roll Up

"It's breakfast for dinner, Paul. It's your favorite." Okay, it's actually breakfast for breakfast. Lately I've been eating a lot of oatmeal, bagels, and waffles for breakfast, but when I do I get hungry again at 9:30. That's a little too early for me to be ready for my morning snack so I decided to go for lots of protein today. I ended up with this Hummus and Egg (and Bacon!) Roll Up. It's pretty good, but this one could have used a little pepper so I added it to the ingredients below. 

Hummus and Egg (and Bacon!) Roll Up

1 tortilla

1 boiled (or scrambled egg) 

1 piece of bacon (halved, if desired)

1-2 Tbsp hummus

1 oz cheddar cheese 

Chopped fresh parsley

Freshly ground pepper

Mmm protein! Spread hummus on the tortilla. Top with the egg, cheese, bacon, parsley, and pepper. Pop in a microwave and heat through (30-60 seconds depending if the egg started off warm or not). Roll up and enjoy some morning protein!