Spicy Supreme Pizza Pasta Sauce

The idea for this sauce came to me at the most random moment -- as I was in the middle of my torture session at the gym yesterday. Weird, I know.

Anyway, I'd bought some hot Italian turkey sausage a few days back and was trying to figure out what exactly I should make with it. I had pretty much settled on doing a baked ziti type dish, when I thought of a supreme pizza inspired sauce. I envisioned crumbled Italian sausage, turkey pepperoni, olives, green peppers, mushrooms, onions, and sauce. Yum. At first I thought it'd make a cool baked pasta dish, but then realized it could just as easily be a regular pasta sauce or the makings for a pizza. Here it is!


Spicy Supreme Pizza Pasta Sauce

1.5 lb hot Italian turkey sausage, casings removed
2 tsp minced garlic
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
8 tbsp sliced black olives
24 slices turkey pepperoni, halved
1 cup sliced canned mushrooms
2 cups pasta sauce
2 tsp olive oil

Heat a large deep pan over medium high. Add oil and heat. Then add onions and garlic, cook until onions begin to turn translucent. Add the sausage and break up into crumbles, stirring constantly. Once sausage begins to brown, add green pepper, olives, and mushrooms. Add the turkey pepperoni and heat through. Now add the pasta sauce. Bring to a boil, then simmer on low for about 20 minutes.

This made about 5.5 cups of sauce. You can always add more pasta sauce to increase the total amount, especially if you're using the entire batch for a baked pasta dish.

I figured about 1/2 cup per serving, since it's pretty rich from the turkey sausage.