Summertime Pasta with Sausage (Meat or Shrimp) and Veggies

This post made me question my sanity. Cooking, pic taking and catering to everyone in my household simultaneously is quite challenging. Sometimes I wonder why my hobby wasn’t as easy as looking at television. I can’t explain this passion. Who spends five hours taking pictures of food on their day off? Is this normal? My brother in law mentioned recently that he heard that people who take pics of their food have an addiction problem. You think? I laughed it off at that moment but it really made me start thinking. To reassure myself, I thought of people who are addicted to drugs including nose spray(I know someone), alcohol, gambling and then I thought, this isn’t so bad after all. [Notice I didn’t include shopping because I may have a slight problem in that area too.]

Whatever this ailment is, it feeds us well and after all the dashing around trying to finish before the sun goes down, racing up and down the stairs searching for the perfect light to capture my pot of food, I really enjoy doing it. I hope my passion is evident in my work and I hope it inspires you to also do what makes you happy. Even though it doesn’t generate an income, even though it leaves you exhausted come Monday morning, even though you spend your entire allowance on serving ware and camera equipment, even though hardly anyone ever recognizes your hard work or takes the time to thank you for your recipes. The important thing is that it makes you happy.

On the topic of doing what makes you happy, eating this pasta dish makes my family happy. It also makes me happy because it is so easy to prepare and comes together very quickly. It may seem like a lot of work prepping the vegetables, but I use a mandolin to julienne them, which takes less than five minutes.

This is a great summertime or anytime dish.

It not only makes a quick, delicious, weeknight meal, it will also impress your friends at your next potluck or backyard party.

Ria’s Recipe Notes:

□ To keep our meals interesting, I occasionally substitute the sausage with shrimp (the very convenient ones you buy in the frozen section) and the penne with angel hair pasta. Actually that was my original recipe which eventually evolved into this combination.

□ This dish can also be made vegan or vegetarian by eliminating the sausage and/or parmesan cheese and adding other veggies like broccoli (2 cups), red pepper(1/4 large) or celery(1/2 stalk).
When I don’t have zucchini or yellow squash, I don’t sweat it and just increase the other veggies. For my last backyard bbq, I grilled the sausage and mixed it in with half the pasta and veggies (made 4 boxes of pasta!), leaving half vegetarian.

□ To feed a larger crowd (6-8 people), like I did the other night, I use an entire box of pasta (16 ozs) and 1 pound of sausage (increasing the green seasoning to about 5 tablespoons).

□ In the supermarket I purchase a 12 oz. package of chicken sausage for about $5.99, but get 32 oz at BJ’s for approx. $9.99! They come in different varieties; spinach and feta or roasted peppers and garlic…I have also seen a variety with mango, don’t recall the exact combination. Keep an eye out for them.
□ For a delicious gluten free version, use brown rice pasta, quinoa pasta or other gluten free pasta.

Ria’s Summertime Pasta with Veggies

Serves about 4-6

Ingredients:

8 oz Mini Penne (or your favorite pasta : angel hair, bow tie, fettuccine, linguine), cooked

½ sweet onion, thinly sliced

16 oz. All Natural chicken sausage, chicken, lamb or shrimp (NO MSG, Fillers, Nitrites, Additives or Preservatives)

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 pint cherry tomatoes, each tomato halved

4 cups organic baby spinach leaves, rinsed and drained

1 carrot, julienned

1 zucchini, julienned

1 yellow squash, julienned

Pepper flakes, to taste (I use ½ teaspoon)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Finely chopped scallions or parsley, to mix in at the end
Grated parmesan, optional (to taste)

5 scallions, divided

6 sprigs parsley

6 cloves garlic

Or use 4 tablespoons green seasoning

Optional, 1 tsp Italian Seasoning, Basil

Prep work:

Boil pasta according to package instructions. Drain. Toss pasta with 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil or butter to prevent pasta from sticking together.
Mince scallions, parsley and garlic together (or use your pre blended green seasoning).
Wash, dry and slice sausages(or whatever protein you are using). If using shrimp, season with 1/2 blended seasoning and salt

Wash, dry and halve cherry tomatoes, julienne carrots, zucchini and yellow squash.
Chop scallions and parsley.

To Cook:

In a large skillet over medium heat, add oil. When hot, add chicken sausage (or shrimp, chicken, beef, pork) and cook for until slightly brown(keep in mind shrimp should only be cooked at this point for 2-3 minutes). Add minced seasoning if not pre marinated(meats and seafood can be marinated in advance). Cook 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Raise heat to high and add carrot, onion, zucchini, yellow squash. Stir fry for 2-3 minutes.

Add tomatoes, cook for another minute. (If you want a nice tomato base, cook longer).

For an equally delicious alternative, when I have the luxury of time (like I did in this recipe), I season the tomatoes with 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, salt and sprigs of thyme and roast the tomatoes in the oven @350 degrees Fahrenheit until nicely roasted. I add the roasted tomatoes to the dish when serving.

Add Spinach, cook for one minute or until it wilts. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add pasta, pepper flakes (gives it a gentle kick!) and chopped scallions or parsley(add dried Italian seasoning if using). Stir to combine all ingredients. Cook 1-2 minutes more.