Pasta with Roasted Peppers & "Sausage"

Last night I wanted to use up the remaining meatless sausages I had from on hand, leftover from my chickpea, brussel sprout, and sausage salad earlier this week. The sausages were Trader Joe's "Sausage-less" Italian sausages and were really quite good. Probably one of the best meatless sausage products I have tried so far.

I came across this recipe on FatFreeVegan and was inspired to make a similar one. I used a more traditional red sauce for the base than the original recipe called for, but loved the idea of roasting the peppers and sausage before adding them to the sauce. It turned out delicious!

Ingredients:
2 meatless sausages, sliced (I used Trader Joe's Sausage-less Italian Sausages)
2 red bell peppers, cut into 1-inch strips
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1-inch strips
8 ounces whole wheat rotini
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 onion, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 28 oz can of whole peeled plum tomatoes
2 pinches red pepper flakes
1 teaspon dried basil leaves
salt and pepper to taste



Spray a baking sheet lightly with olive oil, put it into the oven and preheat to 450F. Once it’s heated, spread the peppers on one half of the sheet and the sausages on the other. Give them a quick spray of olive oil. Cook, stirring every few minutes, until the peppers just begin to get charred along the edges, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and keep warm.
Heat olive oil in a medium sized pan on medium-high. Add the onions and cook, stirring, until they soften, about 4 minutes. Add garlic and dried basil and cook for one minute. Add the tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of water. Let the tomato sauce reduce and thicken over a medium heat, breaking up the plum tomates as they cook for around 20 minutes.

Cook the pasta according to package directions, drain, and set aside.

Once the sauce has thickened, add red pepper flakes, and salt and black pepper to taste. Add the sausges and peppers and heat for an additional 2 minutes. Toss with the pasta to coat.
 

Chickpea, Brussel Sprout, and "Sausage" Salad

Brussel sprouts have a bad rap. And I can understand why if anyone has ever had boiled, mushy, and soggy sprouts forced on them as kids. I, however, am very pro-brussel sprouts. They are actually the only item at Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner that I put in a special request for. The trick is to bake or fry brussel sprouts - not boil them! Tossed with olive oil and salt and baked at 400' for 40 minutes is my favorite way to eat them. Last night I wanted to make a meal out of them, so I tried a receipe I found on Marcus Samuelsson's  website. Fast, simple, and yummy.

Two cooking notes:

• I used a food processor to save time shredding my brussel sprouts. I think in the future I would do this by hand to keep more texture in the sprouts. I think this would also make the salad more visually appealing.
•  Do not overcook the brussel sprouts! They should stay green and vibrant and slightly crunchy.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
2  Trader Joe's Italian Sausageless Sausage
2 cloves minced garlic
red pepper flakes, to taste
salt and black pepper
1 lb brussels sprouts, shredded in a food processor or roughly chopped
1/2 cup white wine
1 can garbanzo beans


Method:

1. Put the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When it’s hot, crumble the sausages into the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, to break the meat into relatively small bits, until browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and chile flakes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook and stir for another minute or so.

2. Add the Brussels sprouts and wine to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until the sprouts are tender but still a bit crunchy, 5 to 10 minutes.

3. Add the beans and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are heated through, just a minute or 2. Taste and adjust the seasoning.