Who Cooks: Garlic and Sausage Penne

My sister has been staying with me since the weekend. Usually, when I'm on my own, I don't cook this much and my usual meals would consist of scrambled eggs and two pieces of toasted bread or oatmeal. But since her temporary stay here in Manila, I have been obliged to cook because one: she's cranky when hungry and two: I want to be a pretty darn good older sister. Plus, her reactions when she gets a taste of the meals that I cook are priceless (e.g. "Wow, ate, ang sarap" and "I'm so happy"). Now, wouldn't you want to cook for a kid like that?

Last night, I decided to scourge the remaining contents of our refrigerator and I was lucky to have enough to make a garlic and sausage penne. I'm no cook nor food blogger so bear with my, uh, lack of proper measurements, etcetera.

Ingredients:
250 grams of left over penne pasta
6 cups of water
1/2 tablespoon of salt
3 pieces of jumbo sausage, cut in thin diagonal pieces (I used the cheese ones)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium-sized tomato, julienned
chili flakes (the ones that come with Yellow Cab pizzas are great)
dried basil leaves
cooking oil (I used sesame oil for the pasta and regular cooking oil for the toppings)

Prepare the pasta:

1. Fill a stockpot with water and add 1/2 tablespoon of salt.
2. Bring the water to boil.
3. Pour in the pasta.
4. Cook for about 8-10 minutes and stir occasionally.
5. Drain the pasta into a colander.
6. Transfer the pasta back into the stockpot and mix in some sesame oil so it won't stick.

For the toppings:

1. Pre-heat a non-stick pan with ample amount of cooking oil.
2. Brown the garlic.
3. Transfer the garlic into a bowl and start browning the sausage pieces.
4. Add in the tomatoes and stir for about a minute, then add the browned garlic.
5. Remove the pan from the heat, and replace with the stockpot.
6. Transfer the contents of the pan into the stockpot and mix well.
7. Add in the chili flakes and the dried basil leaves.
8. Add salt to taste.

Serving is good for 5 people with an average-sized appetite :p

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