Smoked Venison Pasta Skillet

So, I reached out to the girls on my cooking board for some ideas and they gave me quite a few that I’ll be using over the next couple of weeks. Of course the recipes don’t call for venison sausage, but it’s easily substituted for regular smoked sausage. This particular dish I took the basic premise of and modified it to incorporate the venison sausage and some black pepper and garlic rigatoni from a local Texas company that my mom gave us a couple of weeks back. Win-win right? You got it!

I’m not sure I’ve ever had a flavored or pre-seasoned pasta before, other than tri-color tortellini, so I wasn’t sure what to expect but the flavors really came through! I could taste the black pepper and the garlic easily, but they weren’t overwhelming. I would say that this particular pasta was a nice accompaniment to the spicy venison sausage and creamy tomato sauce. J and I both really enjoyed it and it was a great first “new dish” to use the venison sausage in!

Of course you can use regular smoked sausage and your choice of pasta, but if you live in Texas or you want to order some I recommend giving some of these unique flavors from Shayne Foods a try! (And no, they didn’t give me any product to try and review – my mom gave these to me and I just thought I’d share with you all the deliciousness!) And if you do decide to give any of these pasta flavors a try, I’d love to hear which ones and what you think! I have a container of spinach, basil, and garlic linguine to try next!!

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 pound smoked venison sausage
• 3 cloves minced garlic
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 8 oz black pepper and garlic rigatoni (or short pasta of your choice)

Preparation

1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Slice the smoked sausage into thin rounds and add to the skillet. Cook until well-browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Add the garlic, stir and cook for 30 seconds.
2. Add the chicken stock, tomato sauce, heavy cream, and salt and pepper and stir to mix well.
3. Once simmering and bubbly, reduce the heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in the parmesan cheese until melted.
4. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to package directions to al dente, drain and set aside.
5. When the sauce has thickened and cheese is added, add the pasta to the skillet and stir gently to coat with sauce. Serve warm and enjoy!