Sausage, Peppers, Mushrooms and Onions with Penne Pasta

We had a big family gathering in Maine last weekend and made this favorite recipe.  I post this recipe for everyone to make at home.

Ingredients


1 lb of Penne Pasta
2 lbs of Sweet or Hot Sausage (removed from it's casing and crumbled)
1 Red Pepper (sliced into 1/4" wide strips)
1 Green Pepper (sliced into 1/4" wide strips)
1 Yellow Pepper (sliced into 1/4" wide strips)
1 large Yellow Onion (sliced into 1/4" wide strips)
1 lb of Button Mushrooms (sliced into 1/4" slices)
Olive Oil
Minced Garlic
Salt and Pepper

Preparation


To a stock pot, add 1 gallon of water and two tablespoons of Sea Salt and set the pot on to boil.

To a hot non-stick pan add a tablespoon of olive oil, then the sausage and toss the pieces until they are uniformly brown and cooked.  Remove from the pan and put in a large bowl on the side.  Add two tablespoons of Olive Oil to the hot pan, then add the sliced mushrooms.  The burner should be on high heat as you want to brown the mushrooms, add Sea Salt to taste..  You may add Olive Oil as needed if the pan gets dry.  Toss the mushrooms in the pan until they are thoroughly browned.  Remove the mushrooms from the pan and add to the bowl of sausage.
Add two tablespoons of Olive Oil and Minced Garlic to the hot pan and then add the onions and peppers.  Stir fry these vegetables with some salt and pepper to taste until they are browned and the onions almost translucent.  Add the Penne Pasta to the boiling water and cook for approximately 12 minutes, stirring after adding to the boiling water and stirring occasionally through the cooking process.  Take a piece of pasta out as it cooks to taste for doneness.  Add the Sausage and Mushrooms to the Peppers and Onions and stir fry for a few minutes until your pasta is complete.

Remove the pasta from the water using a metal colander. Put the pasta back in the stock pot and them pour the Sausage, Peppers, Onions and Mushrooms over the pasta and toss thoroughly.

Serve immediately.  This is also terrific as a reheated leftover.

Wild Maine Mushrooms

Fall in Maine signals the beginning of the wild mushroom season.

We walked into the woods yesterday and found these striking King Bolets (Porcini). To be honest, they were growing right next to the tennis courts.

Bolets are abundant this time of year, and the best of the species is the King, which has a golden brown cap with a bulbous stem.

We also found Yellow Footed Chanterelles, Hedgehog and Chanterelles along with a few wild cranberries.

We promptly sliced these and dried them in the oven for use in sauces when we get home.