Roasted Vegetable & Sausage Rotini

                I know what you may be thinking….. all this chick ever cooks is pasta! And you’re right my dear friends; it is one of my best pals during the week, weekend and even out to dinner. But to defend myself against all you carb-hating people, I usually add a ton of things to my pasta so that really, it isn’t the star, just the platform if-you-will. And so here is yet another pasta hit that I will be making again and again as it is easy, quick, and down-right delicious.

                As for the veggies used, I stuck to some farmers’ market favorites: zucchini, peppers and onions. You really could do anything here: asparagus, broccoli, artichokes, etc. would be great swaps. I chose to go with the roasting process so that it would yield me a great base to my wine broth, and with the drippings THAT YOU HAVE TO ADD, the broth was indeed rich and deep in both flavor and color.

                If you are not a spicy eater, a sweet sausage would do fine so no worries there. However, if you are an anti-sausage civilian, this dish will um…well…to put it nicely…not work. The sausage produces way more flavor than say shrimp or chicken would, sorry folks. But if you would like to go pig-less, you could just roast the veggies, then add your protein to the sauté and cook it prior to step 10. Meh, I hope you take the sausage route though, it is so darn good. Okay, well that is enough yip-yap for this blog post and so I leave you will a great meal for the coming weeks, enjoyJ

Roasted Vegetable & Sausage Rotini

Serves:2-3

OBJ: TCW be able to cook all her ingredients on one baking sheet

Ingredients:

3 cloves garlic, peeled

1 green zucchini, stem removed

2 yellow zucchini, stems removed

½ red pepper, seeds and stem removed

½ yellow pepper, seeds and stem removed

1 hot sausage ring, or 3 links

½ large Vidalia onion

2 TBS Extra Virgin Olive Oil

 ¼ C dry white wine ( I use Pinot Grigio, but use what you booze!)

¼ C -1/2 C reserved pasta water

3 fresh basil leaves, torn

Parmesan cheese

½ lb rotini pasta

Procedures:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degees

2. Cut sausage ring into about 4 large pieces, about 3-4 inches each (links cut in ½)

3. Chop all zucchini pieces into large chucks, about 1 inch rounds

4. Chop onion into large 1-2 inch chunks, chop peppers into large 1 inch strips and leave garlic whole

5. Place all ingredients spread out on a baking sheet or jelly roll pan

6. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper (about 1 tsp each),  drizzle with about 1-2 TBS olive oil, toss well

7. Place in oven to roast for 35-40 minutes (be sure to check if sausage is cooked through)

8. Meanwhile, boil water for pasta

9. On a separate plate slice sausage into ½ inch rounds

10. Place a large sauté pan over medium flame, add sausage and entire pan of roasted items, including drippings, stir

11. Add wine, turn heat to high, bring to boil then lower flame and let wine reduce, about 3 minutes

12. To sauté, add pasta, pinch S & P, fresh basil, toss to combine with additional pasta water

13. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, serve