This week, we’re feeling the hit in the wallet, so I dreamed up a series of meals that would cost us next to nothing by exploring my cabinet and freezer.  I also discovered Thursday Night Smackdown, whose writer hosts a series of cheap meals every Monday.  This one sounded especially appealing, since all I had to buy was one green pepper.  Whoo hoo!  I’d had some spicy sausage in my freezer from when it called to me at the Amish market about a month ago, and if orzo hadn’t been around, I only have about 20 other pastas I could have had it with.   This has been declared “the best part of a pizza, minus the pizza stuff.”

Note:  I made this dish for 2, although normally meals on here serve 4 (and sometimes more.)

• 2 sausage links (I used spicy, sweet would have been just as good)
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, again thinly sliced
• 1 c. cooked orzo (about 1/2 c. uncooked, just follow the directions on the package)
• Roughly 3 Tbs balsamic vinegar

Remove sausage from casings, crumble, and brown.  When sausage is no longer pink, turn heat down and add pepper and onions, letting cook about 7 minutes or until just soft.  Add balsamic vinegar, cook until reduced slightly.  Add 1/4 c. of pasta water (it’s starchy and therefore better than “regular” water) and orzo.  Stir to combine.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 at 7:14 pm and is filed under fast, pasta, sausage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.