I say spiral but I mean corkscrew but I feel like everyone understands spiral more so spiral is where we are. Coo?
How’s it going out there? Everyone holed up, heads up and hangin’ tight? Same. Same.
I kind of feel like we need pasta. Isn’t there some ancient folklore saying about carbs being the healer of all? Well there needs to be. Let me show you what ya what we got here.
Super simple. I’m using only one can of diced tomatoes because my stash is on the lower side, so I’m conserving. And I just finished The Nightingale last night so it’s like MAKE EVERYTHING LAST OR ELSE WE’RE EATING CHIPPED PAINT AND TOENAILS.
I feel fine, why do you ask?
Sear up some chicken sausages! These are an apple/chardonnay flavor, but aaaaaanything goes. Sutton Foster style.
And then we’re searing some zucchini, onions and garlic. If you don’t have ze zucch, don’t rush out to the store for them. STAY HOME. (or order them for your next week’s grocery delivery.) Use any veggie you have! Just brown, sear, season with salt, amen.
Oh – I added crushed red pepper at this point. It’s not really HEAT you’ll get (I mean, a little bit), but more depth. It just adds another layer. Don’t go overboard though. Just a PEENCH. (My sister says peench. I’m trying to deal.)
To the veggies you’ll add the tomatoes and a couple cups of chicken stock. THEN transfer your cooked pasta on over. It’s going to look soupy, like that photo above. But grate some parmesan cheese in it, slap the lid on and let it absorb for a few minutes. It’s not a THICK sauce. More of a light, tomato coating. And I dig it so.
Add the sausages back, garnish with so much parmesan you can barely see, and scatter some parsley over it all. So good. So dang yummy. So many carbs. So much yes.
Why yes you’re more than welcome to crawl into that and hide until this whole thing is behind us. Absolutely.
Just scoot over and make room for.
Yes. ^ Yes. ^ Yes. ^
Save Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound corkscrew or spiral pasta (I used cellentani)
- 2 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
- 12 oz (4 links) chicken sausages (any flavor is fine!), sliced
- 3 small zucchini (or any veggie you have that you need to use), thinly sliced and halved
- 1 small onion, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (14.5 oz) can fire-roasted tomatoes
- 2 cups chicken stock
- Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley for garnish
- Coarse salt
Instructions
- Heat 1 Tbs. oil in a large skillet over medium high. Add the sliced chicken sausages and sear on both sides until browned and charred in places, about five minutes total. Remove the sausages from the pan and set aside.
- To the pan, add another Tbs. of oil, along with the zucchini. Season with salt and let the zucchini cook until you get nice browning here and there. Add the onions and garlic, another pinch of salt and let the veggies cook another three minutes, until they start to wilt and brown. Add the diced tomatoes and stock, letting it simmer a few minutes while the pasta cooks.
- In the meantime, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until it’s shy of al dente, still toothy. Using a sieve, transfer the pasta to the skillet, along with 1/4 cup of grated parmesan. Stir it all together, bring the heat to low, cover with a lid and let it finish cooking and thickening. Taste it here. Need another pinch of salt? Get it good. Even some fresh lemon juice would be divine!
- Give it another stir and garnish with more parmesan and parsley. A drizzle of good olive oil would be a good idea here, too.
- Serves 4-6.
POLL::::: on a scale from 1 – two hundred billion, how much pasta are you eating these days? ‘FESS UP.
5 Responses to Spiral Pasta with Chicken Sausages and Zucchini