Skillet Toasted Pasta with Chicken Sausage

I think I really should have some Italian in me ... somewhere?!  I love pasta...and potatoes (at least I can blame that on the Irish).  Anyway, I found this recipe and was simply intrigued at how it could possibly turn out by making pasta the way you make risotto.
I followed the recipe for the most part but didn't have an onion on hand so I just threw in a little onion powder.  I'm sure the real onion would be great!  I also used probably 4 cups of chicken stock (reduced sodium) and 2 cups of water.  I didn't end up using it all.  I also added more than 1 cup of the stock at a time to create a little "boil" - you can see (hopefully) in the pictures below.  I think that helped the pasta cook.
All in all, this was so flavorful - a little smokey and creamy - which is crazy since there is no cream, milk or butter in the whole meal!  An easy weeknight meal that is so tasty!

I cooked the chicken sausage whole for a few minutes, then chopped it and finished cooking it so it had a little crispy edge

Here's the pasta after it was "toasted" and as I started adding the liquid

I added more than 1 cup of liquid to enable a small simmer / boil for the pasta

 The finished product - AMAZING!

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken stock

2 cups water

Olive oil

12 oz. penne pasta

1 small sweet onion, chopped

¾ pound spicy Italian chicken sausage

2 Tbls fresh lemon juice

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

2 Tbls Parmesan cheese

Italian Seasoning

Instructions:

In a pot heat chicken stock & water to a simmer, do not boil.

In a large skillet, swirl a little olive oil. Heat over medium high heat. Add sausage and onion. Break up sausage, and cook until browned and cooked through. Remove from pan.

Reduce heat to medium. Swirl about a tablespoon of olive oil in skillet. Add penne tossing to coat in the olive oil. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until lightly toasted.

Add about a cup (or more) of chicken stock to the pan. Stirring freqently, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Add another cup of stock. Keep doing this until the pasta is cooked through.

Add sausage back to the pan. Add Parmesan cheese, squeeze lemon juice over pasta, and season with salt and pepper. Stir and heat until sausage is warm.

Serve with additional cheese, and Italian Seasoning if desired.