I made this sauce one afternoon when I was craving alfredo, but knew I couldn’t spare the calories. This cheesy sauce has a bit of richness from the heavy cream, but the other key ingredients keep the fat content manageable. As if that wasn’t reason enough to make it, you create the sauce in your food processor in just a few seconds. If you don’t have a food processor you can work the ingredients together with a fork, but make sure your basil is finely chopped as you won’t have the food processor to do the work for you.

Creamy basil rotini with cherry tomatoes

Recipe: Creamy Basil Rotini

Summary: Lightened up cream sauce with sausage & broccoli that whips up in seconds.

Ingredients

Sauce

  • 3 wedges Laughing Cow Light Cheese
  • 3 tablespoons Fat Free Cream Cheese
  • ¾ cups Skim Milk
  • 1/8 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
  • 1 cup Basil
  • ¼ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
  • ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
  • ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
  • Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Pasta

  • 1 ½ cup Whole Wheat Rotini (dry)
  • 1 ½ Tofurky Italian Sausage
  • 2 cups Frozen Broccoli
  • 3 tablespoons Parmesean Cheese (grated)

Instructions

  1. Blend all sauce ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
  2. Bring pasta to a boil. 2 or 3 minutes before the pasta is fully cooked, put the broccoli into the pot to cook. Strain the pasta and broccoli and return it to the pot.
  3. Add sauce and vegetarian sausage to the pot and mix well. Cook on low heat until warm, then add the parmesan and mix it in well. When the parmesan melts, it’s ready to serve.

Quick notes

If you’re using non-vegetarian sausage, you should make sure it’s fully cooked.

Preparation time: 5 minute(s)

Cooking time: 12 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 3

Calories: 396