Garlic Sausage Sauteed Rigatoni

I came up with this pasta on a day when I was bored and wanted to try this garlic sausage I bought at Sam's Club and just make something different. Forget cooking your pasta in boiling water as usual! By sauteing the pasta we are adding tons more flavor and a little crunch to things! Not to mention the appealing color and character of the dish. One of the things I love about cooking is that it really is pure art! You start with a blank canvas and you can take it any direction you'd like. One of the most important things when cooking is not to put yourself in a box. The kitchen is your shrine and you're a food god of cuisine when you're in it. You are free to experiment, play, taste, and do whatever you want with your creations. I'm telling you this because that's how I cook most days. I'm not the kind gal to follow a recipe even when I try, somehow I always end up adding my own twist. Once you get used to cooking and EATING, your palate will be the "intuition" that will tell you what might taste good together and it'll help you get creative in the kitchen. This recipe was all spur-of-the-moment but it came out so good! So here it is...

Ingredients

1 package Rigatoni Pasta

1 cup parmessan cheese

2 cups sliced sausage of choice (I used a "garlic" Italian sausage)

3 cups milk

6 garlic cloves minced

1/8 cup dried parsley

3 tbs extra-virgin olive oil

3 tbs corn starch

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

In a large skillet saute garlic and sausage in olive oil. Then add rigatoni in the pan and brown/toast but make sure they don't burn. Once pasta has a brown "toasted" color add salt, pepper, and parsley and stir in. Then add 2 1/2 cups milk and let pasta finish cooking at medium/medium-low heat covered. Stir occasionally to make sure milk doesn't boil (it helps if the skillet is a little deep so things don't spill). Once pasta is almost al-dente (look at package cooking times) mix the remainder 1/2 cup of milk with the corn starch and add to the pasta. Cook about 5 more minutes to make sure the starch flavor disappears and sauce gets thick. Stir occasionally. Once pasta is tender turn of heat, add parmessan cheese and mix, and let it sit for a couple minutes. When you plate it you can add a little more cheese on top. ENJOY!