Italian-style Sausage and Penne Pasta

1 pound penne pasta, regular or whole wheat

1¾ pounds lean hot Italian chicken sausage

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ cup chopped scallions, white parts only

1 small red or green bell pepper, for ½ cup diced

½ cup diced crimini or white mushrooms

1 tablespoon minced garlic

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 cup diced tomatoes (organic preferred)

3 tablespoons red wine

1½ cups tomato sauce (organic preferred)

3 tablespoons feta cheese

Place a large pot two-thirds filled with cold water over high heat and bring to a boil; stir in 1 tablespoon salt and stir until dissolved. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water; drain, but do not rinse pasta.

While pasta cooks, remove skins from Italian sausage. Heat large deep skillet over medium-high heat and when hot add olive oil, swirl to coat skillet’s bottom and add Italian sausage. Cook sausage, breaking up with the edge of spatula or spoon, for 5 to 6 minutes or until it loses its pink color. Add scallions, bell pepper, mushrooms and garlic and mix well with sausage. Stir in vinegar, tomatoes, and red wine, mixing thoroughly. Add tomato sauce, feta cheese and cooked pasta, and simmer for 2 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, if necessary. If sauce is too thick, thin with reserved pasta cooking water. Serve immediately.

Serves six.

Nutrition values per serving (assumes traditional pasta): 500 calories (30.5 percent from fat), 16.9 g fat (4.4 g saturated fat), 69.6 g carbohydrates, 3.9 g fiber, 35.7 g protein, 109 mg cholesterol, 1,346 mg sodium.

SaltSense: The high sodium of this recipe does not come from any added salt, but from the sausage, the tomatoes and the tomato sauce. Using no-salt added tomatoes and no-salt added tomato sauce reduces sodium to a more reasonable 895 mg per serving.