A quick skillet meal, made from andouille sausage, broccoli, leftover, cooked veggies, bow tie pasta, and a touch of sour cream added at the end for creaminess.

Creamy Andouille and Pasta Skillet

Don't you just love a good, quick skillet meal? This one I especially love because it's so versatile. In this instance, I just used some good andouille sausage, making it super easy because it's something that I always have on hand, and smoked sausage thaws pretty quick, making it an easy last minute meal. It's delicious with both chicken breast and shrimp also.

Keep in mind that andouille sausage is a highly spiced smoked sausage that is blended with Cajun spices, adding a spicy kick and great flavor to any dish it's added too. The heat level can vary among brands also, some far hotter than others. While you can also substitute a kielbasa or other milder smoked sausages in recipes calling for andouille, making that substitution will affect the outcome of the recipe that calls for it, so you’ll need to taste and make adjustments in the other seasonings you use, so you don't end up with a bland result from the adaptation.

As much as I love my pasta, I try to incorporate some vegetables whenever I can too, so I added some leftover frozen broccoli from the bottom of a bag of broccoli cuts that I needed to use up, cooking it separately first before adding to the skillet. This is also a great way to use up the tail end of whatever leftover veggies you have in the fridge - in this case I had some grilled peppers and onions I needed to use up, but leftover, cooked corn, carrots, green beans, mushrooms and asparagus are all good choices too. The creaminess in this dish comes from sour cream, another fridge staple I always seem to have on hand, that is stirred in just until heated through at the end. Yummy!

Here's how to make it.

Prepare pasta according to package directions, adding broccoli in the last 4 minutes. I cheated a little bit and did my pasta ahead and broccoli later, using this little gadget, that I love! It's called Fasta Pasta and you may have seen it featured on my sidebar with my "Favorite Things," because it's a product I love and use, often several times a week, for all kinds of pasta, potatoes and veggies. Heat cooking oil in a large skillet and cook sausage until lightly browned; add pimentos.

Whisk together chicken broth and cornstarch, stir into sausage and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook for about 3 minutes, until mixture thickens.

Stir in the pasta and broccoli and cook over medium until warmed through.

Stir in 1/2 cup of any leftover, cooked veggies you're using.

Add garlic powder, salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning. Turn heat down to low, add sour cream, parsley and basil and stir in until warmed through. Taste and adjust for seasonings as needed before serving.

I love sharing my favorite things with y'all. These are things that I own and use on a regular basis and that when viewing the site in full web view, you'll see featured in the sidebar. Some favorite things used in this recipe, include:

1. Fasta Pasta, a tool that makes an easy job of boiling pasta for a recipe.
2. Also in this post, my green pan, which started me on the ceramic non-stick cookware and remember... as with ALL non-stick cookware, use only natural fats, never, ever, ever use non-stick spray!
3. And last, but not least, my Spurtle spatulas. When I first saw these, I thought eh, I don't need those - I've got plenty of rubber spatulas. I now have 3 sets!