Penne with Sausage and Tomato Sauce

Courtesy of Plated Perfection, adapted from Giada de Laurentiis
Shocking, another recipe from Giada. I <3 her. I made a few changes in terms of the the meat that is used (she uses tuna) and I've also just made a few minor changes. I've had the original tuna recipe, which is good, but you have to buy high quality tuna to use. This is great for a group, or else you'll have leftovers for a few days!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound penne
• 1 (26-ounce) jar homemade sauce or other purchased marinara sauce (I used Barilla this go around)
• 3 Mild Italian Sausages (probably about 12 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon drained capers
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• freshly shredded or grated parmesan cheese
• Texas Toast, this was just something I had to throw in :)

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Cook the sausage in a skillet with approximately 1 tb olive oil. I prefer to take them out of the casings and cut into chunks. Cook for about 3 minutes per side or until cooked through. Combine the tomato sauce, sausage, capers, and lemon peel in a heavy large skillet. Simmer to blend the flavors, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat. Toss the pasta with enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten. Stir in the parsley and serve. Top with parmesan cheese and some extra parsley. Serve with Texas Toast.