Faking the sauce

Not my most favorite, but mostly because I bought a different brand of chicken sausage and didn't love it.  This recipe was ok, but nothing special.  This recipe is from Cooking Light and it's supposed to give you the creamy feeling of a pasta without really having a cream sauce.  It takes awhile for not much pizzaz.

6 cups unsalted chicken stock
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
8 oz uncooked penne pasta
1 cup sliced sweet onion
13 oz italian chicken sausage
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp kosher salt
red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Bring chicken stock to a simmer in a saucepan.  Keep warm over low heat.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add 1 Tbsp oil to pan,  Add pasta and cook 5 minutes or until toasted, stirring frequently.  Remove pasta from pan.

Add the remaining 1 Tbsp oil, onion, and sausage to pan.  Cook 4 minutes or until browned.  Remove sausage mixture from pan.  Reduce heat to medium-low.  Return pasta to pan.  Add stock, 1 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of stock is nearly absorbed before adding the next, about 35 minutes total.  Stir in sausage mixture, juice, salt, cheese and red pepper flakes.