Chicken Sausage in a White Wine Sauce

This week's recipe is less cheesy than last week's, but don't worry, there is still plenty of garlic.  For this I used chicken sausage instead of pork for something lighter and different than what I normally use.  Also since I used only a few olives in the dinner, many of the others were sacrificed as a snack during the cooking process.  Man, they had such a nice burn, I love a good, adventurous snack!

My ingredient list for this recipe is:

• Chicken Sausage (I used Al Fresco's Roasted Garlic)
• Whole Wheat Angel Hair Pasta
• Garlic (four cloves)
• Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp Butter
• Vermouth
• Three Tomatoes (medium)
• Olives (I used olives from this mix from Pickle Licious)
• Mustard (brown)
• Cayenne

Before you start anything else, heat water for the pasta.  Put a lid on it to help bring it to a boil faster.

Meanwhile, cut and mince the other ingredients.  Mince the garlic (I roughly minced it, so there would be some bigger pieces in this).  For my recipe, I picked out six kalamata olives from the mix I had.  Because the mix I had was spiced, this added flavor to the dish.  If you are not using olives that are already spicy, you might like to add a little extra cayenne at the end.  Also, cut up the chicken sausage, and dice the tomatoes.

Next we cook the sausage.  Heat your skillet with a bit of olive oil on medium-high heat.  The sausage I used was already fully cooked, so I just fried it until it was lightly brown.  When it does brown lightly, take it off the heat, and transfer back to a plate with a paper towel to absorb some of the grease and oil.  Place another paper towel on top for the same purpose, and set aside.

Turn the burner to low, and return the skillet to it.  Cut the butter into two or more pieces and let melt on the warm pan.  Once melted, add the minced garlic.  Cook the garlic in the butter for a few minutes, but do not let it brown.

Next, add the vermouth, adding enough to cover the bottom of the pan (about 1/8th inch deep).  Use this as an opportunity to scrape up anything browned at the bottom of the pan, which will add flavor to the sauce (and make your pan easier to clean after).  Bring the heat back up to about medium heat, and simmer until the alcohol is burned off (you can either tell by the smell or the taste if the alcohol has been boiled off).

If the water is boiling, around now is a good time to cook the pasta.  I used about 3/4ths of a pound of whole wheat angel hair pasta.

Add the minced olives to the sauce mix, and a squirt of mustard.  You'll need to do the mustard to taste, but make sure you don't add too much.  Finally add a little bit of cayenne.  Once the taste is to your liking, stir in the diced tomatoes.  Turn the heat down to low, add the sausage, and simmer for a few minutes.

Take the pan off the heat, and it is ready to serve!  What I made here served my family of three (if you are wondering how much it made).  It was especially great when paired with an episode of Doctor Who!