I love to think of myself as a bit of a foodie. I like to try new things, but I still try to stay in my comfort zone. I am trying harder to embrace my inner foodie and today I tried something different with dinner. It was a huge hit! I didn’t use my crockpot for the entire meal, but just as a helper to get me to my final dish. It cut my prep time way down and dinner was on the table in no time.

This Sweet Potato Penne with Chicken Apple Sausage could be served in any 5 star restaurant, it is that good. No one will ever guess that you spent only about 15 minutes in the kitchen. The added bonus, it is gluten free and dairy free!

I started the dish by popping some sweet potatoes in my crockpot in the morning. You can check out the Crockpot Sweet Potato Recipe here. The goal is nice tender sweet potatoes to make the sauce super easy to make.

I then hit Target to snag the key ingredients that I needed, Barilla® Gluten Free Pasta and Aidells® Chicken & Apple Sausage. Check out this Cartwheel Offer and this Cartwheel too to save on your Barilla and Aidells purchases at Target. I love Cartwheels! They are a super way to save at Target!

I love Aidells® because all of their sausages are hand-crafted with real, hand-picked ingredients in small batches with care. It really comes through in the flavor. If you are gluten free and haven’t tried Barilla® Gluten Free Pasta you are missing out. Seriously one of the best gluten free pastas out there.

When I got home and was ready to make dinner I put the Barilla® Gluten Free Penne pasta on the stove to boil. I only cooked it for about 8 minutes because I want it al dente. That way the pasta finishes cooking in the sauce I am going to make. I then sliced the Aidells® Chicken & Apple Sausage and browned it in a skillet with some diced bell peppers. This takes less than 5 minutes.

I peeled 2 of the baked sweet potatoes and placed the filling in my food processor, along with some chicken stock, and some seasonings. I gave it a whirl and instant sweet potato sauce. This has such an interesting sweet/savory flavor that is unbelievably amazing!

I tossed the drained Barilla® Gluten Free Penne Pasta with the Sweet Potato Sauce. Then I topped it with the sausage & peppers. I added a little grated Parmesan cheese to mine, but that is totally optional. The results left everyone speechless in a good way! There was not a crumb left on a plate! YUM!

We all loved the Barilla® Gluten Free Penne pasta and Aidells® Chicken & Apple Sausage so much I made this Barilla Gluten FREE Penne Pasta with Aidells Chicken and apple sausage, shallot cream sauce and Parmigiana Reggiano cheese for myself and my husband the other night.

This recipe doesn’t involve the crockpot at all but was completely done and on the table in about 15 minutes. That is a winner in my book.

The shallot cream sauce paired with the Aidells Chicken and apple sausage perfectly!

This was a perfect date night dish! It was so fast and easy, but full of rich flavors! This is one of the best gluten free pastas I have ever had.

Ingredients

1 Pkg Barilla Gluten FREE Penne Pasta
2 Tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
2 Shallots Diced
1 Pkg Aidelles chicken sausage, Sliced in Rounds
½ Cup White wine
½ Cup Chicken broth
1 ½ Cup Heavy Cream
Salt and pepper to taste
½ Cup Parmigiano Reggiano
1 Tbsp Chopped Parsley

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, meanwhile in a large skillet heat the olive oil and cook the sausage until slightly golden in color and cooked through add the shallots and brown well, deglaze with white wine and reduce by ¾. Add the chicken broth and heavy cream, bring to a simmer. Cook the pasta according to the directions, drain and toss the pasta with the sauce. Let the pasta cook within the sauce for a minute then remove the skillet from the heat and fold in the cheese and parsley.

Author: Amanda Carlisle

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Barilla® & Aidells®. The opinions and text are all mine.

Sweet Potato Penne with Chicken Apple Sausage