Roasted Red Pepper and Chicken Sausage Pasta

1: In a bowl combine chicken, fennel, granulated garlic, Italian seasoning, onion powder, crushed red pepper flakes, 1Tsp salt, and 1/2Tsp black pepper and set aside.

2: In a large, deep, sauté pan, add olive oil and heat over medium heat. If you want to make the crispy basil garnish-add just a handful to the olive oil and fry until crispy and take out place on paper towels. You can just garnish your pasta with fresh basil, crispy basil is just for fun!

3: Add shallots to the heated olive oil and sauté over medium heat until softened, a couple of minutes. Add in the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.

4: Take out the shallots and garlic and place in a bowl. In the same pan, add the ground chicken and combine it with any bits of garlic left behind so that doesn’t burn. Cook the chicken through, I like to get it brown to develop some flavor.

5: In a blender combine drained roasted red peppers, cooked shallots and garlic, heavy cream,1Tsp salt, 1/2Tsp black pepper and basil. If you are garnishing with fresh basil, leave a couple leaves out, if you fried basil for garnish then add the rest of the basil to the blender.

6: Add your blended roasted red pepper sauce to the pan with the cooked chicken and stir together.

7: Boil your pasta for ½ the amount of time. Add it to the sauce to finish cooking. The sauce can be a little runny at first, finishing cooking the pasta allows for the sauce to thicken. Cook over medium, stirring occasionally so the pasta doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Check for seasoning and season with salt and pepper if needed.

8: Garnish with basil and parmesan cheese. Enjoy!