Pasta Puttanesca with Chicken and Smoked Sausage

I love cooking pastas because pasta is relatively inexpensive, quick, and easy.  When you don't have a lot to work with, it forces you to think outside the box and get a little creative with what you have.  I grew up with my grandparents and believe me, my grandmother is the queen of making something from nothing.  So as I am peering into my sparsely stocked refrigerator for inspiration, it came to me.  Figures I would make a dish loosely translated meaning "whore's pasta."  I say this more because of the "impoverished" implication of the phrase not the sexual connotation.  If you think about it, necessity is the mother of all invention.  So it would make sense that because I didn't have a lot of food choices to work with because of my financial limitations, I would piece together a meal that is in my opinion one of the best dishes I have ever made PERIOD!  Turn on your favorite reality TV show, kick your shoes off, and lounge on the sofa with a big bowl of this pleasant  peasant prostitution-inspired pasta.

PASTA PUTTANESCA  WITH CHICKEN AND SMOKED SAUSAGE

PASTA PREPARATION

1 LB. DRIED ROTINI PASTA

1 GALLON WATER

1 TSP OLIVE OIL

• COOK ACCORDING TO THE BOX'S DIRECTIONS FOR AL DENTE JUST BEFORE THE SAUCE IS COMPLETED
• DO NOT RINSE - SIMPLY STRAIN AND POUR PASTA DIRECTLY INTO THE SAUCE

PUTTANESCA PREPARATION

2 TBSP OLIVE OIL

2 EACH CHICKEN BREASTS - MEDIUM DICED

4 OZ SMOKED SAUSAGE - MEDIUM DICED

1 EACH LARGE GREEN BELL PEPPER - MEDIUM DICED

1 15 OZ CAN ITALIAN STYLE DICED TOMATOES (FLAVORED)

1 CUP NEW ORLEANS STYLE OLIVE SALAD

8 OZ ORIGINAL V8 JUICE

1 TSP GRANULATED GARLIC

1 TSP GRANULATED ONION

1 TSP BASIL

1 TSP OREGANO

1/2 TSP SUGAR

1/2 TSP FENNEL SEED

1 TSP SALT

1/2 TSP BLACK PEPPER

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

• HEAT OLIVE OIL IN MEDIUM SAUCE POT OR DUTCH OVEN OVER MEDIUM HIGH HEAT 1-2 MINUTES
• ADD CHICKEN AND SAUSAGE AND COOK STIRRING OFTEN UNTIL BROWNED, ABOUT 5 MINUTES
• ADD BELL PEPPERS AND OLIVE SALAD AND COOK FOR ADDITIONAL 3 MINUTES
• ADD REMAINING INGREDIENTS AND BRING TO BOIL.
• REDUCE HEAT TO MEDIUM LOW AND COOK FOR APPROXIMATELY 45 MINUTES UNTIL THE LIQUID IS REDUCED TO AND THE SAUCE THICKENS.  (DON'T WORRY IF IT LOOKS REALLY OILY, IT'S SUPPOSED TO.)
• REMOVE FROM HEAT
• ADD COOKED PASTA AND TOSS WELL WITH SAUCE UNTIL PASTA IS FULLY COATED
• LET STAND FOR 3-5 MINUTES AND RE-TOSS
• YOU CAN SERVE IMMEDIATELY, BUT HONESTLY THIS PASTA GETS BETTER AND BETTER THE LONGER IT SITS.  
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• PREP TIME - 1 HOUR 15 MINUTES
• SERVES - 4-6