April 28-May 1 Penne with Roasted Sausage and Peppers

April 28     Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and steamed artichokes
April 29     Take out Greek
April 30     Wine Tasting in Niagara so all food consumed  was served to me
May 1        Penne with Roasted Peppers, Zuchinni and Italian Sausage

I was working Sunday with my good friend and fellow makeup artist, Alice. On the drive home, she couldn't think of what to make for dinner and I told her that I still had to decide what I was going to make at this late hour myself. I asked her what she had in the fridge and told her to roast her sausages with some tomatoes and veggies, olive oil, big cloves of garlic and then toss some pasta into the roasted sausages and all the amazing juices from the veggies that mixes in with the fat from the sausages.  Talking about it made me so hungry that I knew that I was going to make exactly the same thing. This is a dish that is usually a regular last minute dinner here that I have avoided making so far but I managed to get through the winter months without needing to turn to it so it was perfect for a quick meal on a rainy night.




Yesterday was supposed to my day to post and in the midst of a crazy weekend, I lost track of our schedule. Since we ate out Friday and Saturday and I did no cooking at all , I wouldn't have much to share with you anyway and I promise to make it up by posting two recipes this coming Thursday. My apologies to my blog mates.

Penne with Roasted Sausage and Peppers
serves 4

2 hot italian sausages
1 yellow pepper, cut into halves
1 orange pepper cut into halves
3 large plum tomatoes, quartered
3 big cloves or garlic or more if the garlic is small
1 zuchinni cut into large chunks
Olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
fresh basil
100 grams of baby bococinni
approx 400g pasta - something nice and hearty like rotini or penne or any other similar shape that you prefer


preheat oven to 400F
Put the veggies and the garlic in a large, heavy roasting pan. Pour in a little glug of olive oil, salt and pepper and stir around to make sure the veggies are coated. Add the italian sausage that you have pricked a few times and put the pan in the bottom rack in your oven.

Roast until the sausages are thoroughly cooked and all the vegetables are slightly charred and well cooked, from about 45 minutes to an hour. Keep an eye on things after the 40 minute point.
Meanwhile, put a big pot of salted water on to boil. After you remove the pan from the oven, put the pasta into the boiling water and cook according to package directions.
While the pasta is cooking, slice the sausages, cut up the peppers and tomatoes and return them back to the roasting pan. Cut the baby bocacinni into halves and sprinkle them over the sausage/veg mixture. Chop some fresh basil and sprinkle that over the cheese.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it well and them dump it on the top of the sausage/veg/bocacinni mixture in the roasting pan and mix it all together, making sure the pasta is totally coated with the sauce and the cheese will start melting in big, blobby, delicious chunks.

That's it. Simple, delicous, great to do at the last minute with little prep and it's all done in one pan.