whole wheat penne with chicken sausage and sauteed vegetables

After tutoring, I need something quick — partly because I'm starving after skipping lunch in favor of making photocopies, and partly because I've been on my feet since waking up at 5:30 and want the day (or at least the work of it) to be over.

- Get some water boiling. Once it is, add a ton of salt. I hold to the old maxim that pasta water should have roughly the salt content of the Mediterranean.
- Meanwhile, throw a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Cut 3-4 medium-size sausages into coins, maybe 1/4" thick.  (I prefer sundried tomato and basil chicken sausages, but you could use pretty much anything short of a breakfast link.) Toss them into the hot, not yet smoking, olive oil and toss to coat.
- While those are browning, cut 2-3 medium bell peppers (red or green, doesn't matter) into strips, then halve the strips. Throw these into the pan and stir well.
- Cut 1 medium onion into rough semicircles — i.e. peel the onion, cut it in half, then chop thin semicircular strips down each half — throw these into the pan. Saute the sausage, peppers and onions with a little salt and pepper until the sausages are brown, peppers soft, and onions mostly translucent. Then turn the heat as low as it can go and add 1/2 a jar of vodka sauce.
- Cook pasta per box directions, strain, and throw back into pot. Pour sauce over it all and mix well. Top with grated Parmesan or Pecorino Romano. NO KRAFT. Otherwise the delicious dinner you just cooked is void.