Italian Sausage with Zucchini and Tomatoes

Here I go with the zucchini again. It really is my favorite vegetable. I got this recipe at Whole Foods, and it called for regular italian sausage. Not too long ago, my Aunt Karen introduced me to chicken sausage...all the flavor of sausage, and only 90 calories a link. I picked up this Archer's Farm brand chicken sausage at Super Target. It does NOT look appetizing raw but once I grilled it that all changed.



Saying I got this recipe from Whole Foods isn't entirely accurate...I got it from the Whole Foods Recipe app I have on my iPhone. As if I didn't have enough reasons to love my iPhone. I have browsed a lot of recipes on it and you can expect to see them soon!

This is a very simple recipe but was packed with tons of flavor. It got me thinking a lot about garlic, because the garlic in this recipe is treated so much differently than the garlic for the Summer Vegetable Pasta I made. I want to investigate garlic, but it will have to wait until after finals. Only a week and a half of summer school left!

Italian Sausage with Zucchini and Tomatoes
adapted from: Whole Foods Recipes
One package mild Italian style chicken sausage
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
4 to 6 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tbs dried oregano
1tbs dried basil
1 pound zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
One package grape tomatoes, halved (I think it was a pint? I'm not sure. The clear plastic container.)
salt and pepper to taste

Grill sausages until cooked through. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add garlic and oregano, stir for a few seconds. Add zucchini and cook until tender, about 3 to 5 minutes.

When the sausages are cooked, cut into bite-size pieces and add to the pan with the basil, tomatoes, salt and pepper. Continue to saute until tomatoes are just softened, about 1 minute.

Summer Vegetable Pasta

I love Rachel Ray. I think she has a great attitude and her food always sounds great. I even own 14 Rachel Ray magazines. From those magazines full of countless recipes, I have made a total of one, and it involved Pillsbury crescent rolls. Not very daring, I know. Now we can call it two! I love zucchini but the only way I have ever cooked it is grilled, so when I came across this pasta in the 2009 June/July issue, I just had to make it!

So, first of all, as you can guess from the picture this recipe has corn in it. EARS of corn. It is the perfect season for it and I was able to get it for only $0.10 each! I had to remove it from the ear, and let me tell you, that is an interesting process.

It gets EVERYWHERE.

I live in an apartment, so there's the kitchen counter, then a higher bar-top counter; the corn flew over the bar top and I found it in the living room carpet. I kid you not. Once I got over the shock of flying corn kernels (and swept and vacuumed) I ended up with about 2 cups of corn from 4 ears. So, if you don't want to risk flying corn, maybe try 2 cups frozen/canned. But the fresh corn gives it a really great texture and flavor so I would not recommend going that route.

Also, the zucchini is supposed to be thinly sliced. So I took this opportunity to give my roommate's mandoline slicer a try. Tiffany's mom sells Pampered Chef so our kitchen is full of gadgetry. It's a really neat slicer, but about 2 zucchinis in I was sick of it. It has this safety mechanism built in, to avoid hurt fingers, but it wastes a lot of the vegetable. I think I'll reserve it for potatoes from here on out.

All in all, it was a big hit! Matt even liked it and he usually does not go for entrees that do not involve meat, meat-and-potatoes man that he is. The swiss cheese definitely adds a great kick.


Summer Vegetable Pasta
1 pound rotini
1/4 cup EVOO
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup italian-style breadcrumbs
3 zucchini, thinly sliced
4 ears corn, kernels scraped off
6 ounces swiss cheese, shredded
salt and pepper

The recipe says it makes 4 servings, but I think it's more like 6. My roommate, Matt and I all had some and there is still half of it left.

Cook the pasta to al dente in boiling, salted water and drain, reserving one cup of the water.

Meanwhile, in a small skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat then cook half of the garlic until golden (about 30 seconds). Stir in the breadcrumbs and set aside.

In the pasta pot, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and cook the remaining garlic until golden; add the zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender (about 5 minutes). Stir in the corn, cooked pasta, and pasta water. Add 1 cup cheese and toss; season with salt and pepper.

Stir the remaining cheese into the breadcrumb mixture and sprinkle it on top of the pasta to serve.