This creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta recipe is made with a garlicky cheese sauce and is filled with sausage, spinach and sun-dried tomatoes. The best part is that it's ready in under 30 minutes, making it an ideal weeknight meal!
Disclaimer: This post is created in partnership with California Sun Dry. As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting brands that help me run this site!
This might just be my favorite pasta recipe yet! Honestly, I love any pasta with sun-dried tomatoes. You may remember I made this sun-dried tomato pesto pasta which is a low carb pasta recipe made with pesto, and today's recipe kind of reminds me of that. ...except it uses real pasta, fresh sun-dried tomatoes and it includes CHEESE. Neither one is better than the other; they have similarities, but are both unique in their own way.
Why You'll Love This Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta
- It's creamy and cheesy and flavored with garlic
- It includes fun add-ins like spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and sausage
- The whole recipe is ready in under 30 minutes, making it an ideal weeknight meal
How To Make Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta
Cook the pasta and sausage: Most pasta recipes start by cooking the pasta, and this is no exception. Fill a large pot up with water and bring it to a boil, then add the pasta in and cook it according to the package instructions. In terms of what kind of pasta to use, that's up to you! I used gluten free pasta shells, but any kind will work.
While you wait for the water to boil, cook the sausage in a large skillet until it's golden brown on both sides.
Make the sauce: The sauce is essentially a combination of garlic, milk and parmesan cheese, but before you can make it, you have to remove the sausage from the skillet with a slotted spoon. Then, cook the minced garlic for 1 minute before adding in the milk/arrowroot (or cornstarch) mixture, which will allow the sauce to thicken. Then, stir in HALF the cheese until it's melted, then add the rest of the cheese. At this point, the heat should be on low so that the cheese doesn't burn or become too thick.
Put it all together: Once the cheese sauce is good to go, you can add in the spinach and sun-dried tomatoes and stir everything together for about a minute before adding in the sausage and cooked pasta and stirring everything until the pasta is coated in cheese.
Prepping This Pasta Recipe
Preparing all of the ingredients beforehand will help to make the whole process go by faster and prevent you from scrambling to get things done. This includes:
- Mincing the garlic
- Whisking the milk and arrowroot together
- Making sure the California Sun Dry sun-dried tomatoes are sliced
How To Store Pasta
Store pasta in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Though, since this recipe includes both a meat and cheese sauce, it's best when served fresh.
More Delicious Dinner Recipes
Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta
Ingredients
- 8 oz. gluten free pasta
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 spicy Italian sausage links casing removed
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup milk of choice
- 2 tablespoon arrowroot or cornstarch
- 1 ½ cups parmesan cheese
- â…” cup California Sun Dry sun-dried tomatoes sliced
- 2 cups spinach
- fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil; then, cook the pasta according to the package instructions.
- Whisk the milk and arrowroot together in a bowl and set aside. Then, cook the sauce: heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat, then cook the sausage completely. Once cooked, use a slotted spoon to remove it and set in aside.
- In the same skillet, reduce heat to medium-low and cook the garlic for 1 minute. Then, pour the milk mixture into the skillet, then stir in HALF the cheese until it's melted, then add the rest of the cheese (the result should be a cheese sauce). Last, add in the sun-dried tomatoes and spinach and stir until spinach is wilted, 1-2 minutes.
- Add the cooked pasta and sausage to the skillet then stir until everything is combined. Top pasta with red pepper flakes and chopped parsley (optional) and enjoy!
Keri says
Delicious!!!!
Erin says
Thanks Keri!