yum for your tum: pasta with cauliflower and turkey sausage

i promised i'd follow up with this week's cotton top family dinners. so monday night, pasta with cauliflower and turkey sausage was on tap. i adapted this recipe from cooking light. the original version used reserved pasta water to make the sauce. i decided to improvise and make a quick pan sauce to satisfy the picky eaters in the house. i just couldn't see them going for the starchy water sauce.

the picture above doesn't lie. we were all excited to eat that i almost forgot to take a picture - until about halfway through the meal. i'm sure the leftovers will also heat up nicely for lunch later this week. yum-o.

so here's how it goes, foodies.

ingredients:

5 oz. mild turkey sausage, cooked

2 cups cauliflower florets

2 tablespoons of evoo

4 cups of cooked pasta

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

1 cup milk or cream

s&p

directions:

preheat oven to 450 degrees. place cauliflower on baking sheet and season with s&p and 1 tablespoon of evoo. bake for 20 minutes until toasty. also, boil water for the pasta and get that going.

cut sausage crosswise into 1/4 inch slices. heat medium skillet with remaining 1 tablespoon of evoo and cook the little guys for about 10 minutes. remove from pan and set aside. in same pan melt butter and then whisk in flour to make roux. once roux has turned into a light brown color, whisk in milk or cream. keep stirring until it turns into a cream sauce. remove from heat and add parmesan cheese. season with s&p.

in a large bowl, mix together hot pasta, cauliflower, sausage, cream sauce and s&p. serve immediately and enjoy. yum for your tum?