Sausage, Basil, & Port Fettuccine

The foundation of this recipe came from Sunset: Quick, Light, & Healthy...

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb sweet pork Italian sausage, casings removed
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 bundles sliced green onions (about 1.5 cups)
  
• 2 medium purple onions, thinly sliced
• 1. 5 cups port
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 6 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 lb fettuccine

DIRECTIONS:

• Start your pasta water so it will be ready to use.
  
• Stir-fry sausage about 7 - 10 minutes breaking into pieces as you go. Remove sausage from pan with slotted spoon and keep warm (I like to put the meat in a glass dish and place in the oven on low heat...maybe 200 degrees). Pour off and discard all about 1 tsp of pan fat.
  
• Add garlic, green onions, and red onions to pan and stir-fry until soft (5 - 7 minutes). Add water, 1 tbsp at a time, if pan appears dry. You can also add olive oil but not too much as you don't want the dish to be too greasy.
  
• Somewhere along in here make sure you drop the pasta in the boiling water and cook according to package directions.
  
• Add port and bring to a boil. Boil, stirring often, until liquid is reduced by about half (5 - 6 minutes).
• Add tomatoes, vinegar, and sausage.
• Reduce heat and simmer for 2 - 5 minutes.
• Stir in chopped basil.
  
• Drain pasta well and add a little bit of olive oil to slick up the noodles a bit.
• Transfer to a warm bowl (or back to the cooking pot) then add sausage sauce.
• Stir to mix then serve topped with basil sprigs and Parmesan cheese. Yummy!