Giada De Laurentiis’ 5-Ingredient Pasta with Turkey Sausage Is the Ultimate Quick and Easy Dinner

Food Network star Giada De Laurentiis’ pasta with sausage, peas, and mushrooms is a filling, hearty, and delicious one-skillet meal. And featuring lean sausage made from turkey meat, it’s a wholesome and light dinner.

De Laurentiis says using lean protein is the smart way to cook and eat

In her book Eat Better, Feel Better, the chef notes that you can enjoy your favorite meals without sacrificing flavor. And lean protein can make that happen.

“Protein is one of the essential macronutrients our bodies require, and I think it is part of a healthy diet when eaten in moderation,” she writes. “That means a serving of four to six ounces of chicken, turkey, lean beef like skirt steak or tenderloin (not a 12-ounce steak!), lamb, or pork once or twice a week.”

It’s also important, De Laurentiis says, to put meat in its proper place on your plate, to think of “meat as the side dish rather than the main event, with one or two vegetables making up the bulk of the meal. This lets me enjoy the satisfying chew and flavor of meat, but I feel less weighed down.”

The chef’s meal is a great weeknight dinner

With just five ingredients, the Simply Giada star’s meal is an absolute winner. The recipe calls for ground turkey sausage with the casing removed, coarsely chopped cremini mushrooms, frozen peas that have been defrosted slightly, dried farfalle pasta (also known as bowtie pasta), and grated Grana Padano cheese.

“I like to use turkey sausages because they’re lighter and leaner than pork sausages,” De Laurentiis says in the Food Network video for this recipe.

While the pasta is cooked in a pot of boiling water, the rest of this deliciously sauceless recipe comes together in a skillet. And you won’t even miss the sauce, as the chef writes in her cookbook Everyday Italian.

“In the United States, we eat a lot of heavily sauced pastas,” she noted. “But in Italy, you’re just as likely to find pasta in a light dressing as swimming in a pool of sauce; Italians like pasta dishes in which the texture and flavor of the pasta are just as important as the accompaniment.”

Get the complete recipe, video, and reviews on Food Network’s site.

Reviewers loved De Laurentiis’ super simple and filling recipe

On a busy weeknight, easy is what most home cooks crave, as well as a satisfying plate of food. The culinary personality’s recipe checks off all the right boxes, as reviewers noted on Food Network’s site.

“This is a wonderful dish that is extremely easy to make. Italian Turkey Sausage was not available so I substituted Italian Chicken Sausage. It was incredibly tasty and my husband actually requested that I make it again before he even finished dinner. I am not a big fan of leftovers, but I had it for lunch the next 2 days. Yum!,” one person wrote.

Another reviewer added, “As a mom with two active boys in sports, I’m always looking for quick and easy dinner recipes. This one slammed it out of the park! Easy and quick to prepare with great flavors.”