Pasta Primavera with Italian Sausage

I felt a quick one pot pasta dinner so I looked around my fridge to see what I could use.  The zucchini quickly caught my eye and the first thing that popped into my mind was a pasta primavera.  Now my husband has to have some kind of meat with his meal so I decided to throw in some hot Italian sausage into the pan as well.  Of course, you can totally skip that step and start straight off with the vegetables and call it a day.  Either way this pasta comes together quickly and you will want to enjoy a second helping like my entire family did for dinner that night. 

 Ingredients:
1lb of pasta (any style)
1lb hot Italian Sausage
2 medium zucchini diced
2-3 carrots diced or sliced
1 medium onion diced
2-3 cloves garlic grated or minced
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
red chili flakes to taste
3/4 cup starchy pasta water
1 cup of milk

 Directions:

Boil pasta  in salted water until almost fully cooked (al dente).  Reserve 1 cup of pasta water before draining pasta. Set pasta aside until later.   In a large pan  brown Italian sausage. Drain any extra oil out of pan if necessary. I recommend lean sausage so you do not have much oil.  Remove sausage from pan. Leave 1 Tbs of sausage oil or add 1 Tbs of olive oil to saute zucchini, onions and carrots.

 Saute vegetables on medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes.  Then add garlic and saute for another minute.  Next add basil, oregano, salt, pepper and red chili flakes.  Then add browned sausage back into the pan and mix well.

Next add the grated Parmesan cheese, pasta water and milk. Bring to a simmer and scrape the bottom of pan to get all the good bits.  Next add boiled pasta to the pan. Mix well and taste for salt and seasoning.  Saute for a few minutes to finish pasta off and serve hot.  Garnish with more Parmesan Cheese. Enjoy.

 
Copyright: All recipes, content, and images (unless otherwise stated) are the sole property of Curry and Comfort. Please do not use without prior written consent. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.