Some quick pasta dishes!

Last week Alex was out of town at the APA conference, so I was on my own in the kitchen. Or, basically, just cooking for one. I managed to eat pasta most days of the week. I'm not quite sure why, but it ended up being tasty and pretty quick and easy!

I made pesto pasta for myself twice, and it was great! Super healthy, easy, and most importantly, quite tasty!



Pesto Pasta with Zucchini and Cherry Tomatoes! All fresh from the market!

Pasta of your choice
Olive Oil
Fresh Garlic Cloves (4-6)
Fresh Basil
Parmesan Cheese
Cherry Tomatoes
Zucchini

Prepare your pasta normally.
Make up your pesto. I do this by adding fresh basil leaves, a healthy dose of olive oil, a garlic clove or two, and freshly grated parmesan, or other similar cheese to a food processor. Blend until smooth. (Yes, I know you are supposed to have pine nuts in pesto. I never have them in the house. I'm ok with that.)

As your pasta is almost nearing the point of being done, add some olive oil to a skillet, and a few pressed garlic cloves. Saute them up until nicely fragrant. Chop up some zucchini, however much you please, and add it to the skillet. Saute another two minutes or so. Add your chopped tomatoes, saute another minute.



Strain your cooked pasta into a saucepan over low heat and add the the pesto and veggies from the skillet. Add another few dashes of olive oil. Mix well. Serve topped with freshly grated cheese.



Yum!

Dish Number 2

Pasta with Sausage and Veggies



Alex met me during my lunch break at the greenmarket today. A word to market vendors, if you give me a free sample, it is highly likely I will buy your product. This is tripled if the husband in tow has also not eaten lunch and just come from the gym. Just saying.

We walked by the turkey farm stand and the vendor was giving away free samples of turkey sausage. I'm going to go ahead and say it was about the bestest sausage ever. I'm not really a sausage fan, that's more Alex's realm, but this stuff was pretty fabulous. Hence, it came home in our shopping bags.

Upon sitting the rest of the day at work, I decided I would make some sort of sausage and peppers dish for dinner. Well, it sort of turned into that. Only better.

This is a great light summer pasta dish that was perfect for the hot summer night with a nice glass of wine!

Pasta with Sausage and Veggies

Pasta of your choice (though I'd say something penne-ish is a good fit)
Sausage, we used 1.5 lbs of turkey sausage, sold not in links (if yours comes in links, remove the casings)
A good handful or two of Arugula
A handful of fresh basil
Green pepper, sliced into thin strips
Cherry or grape tomatoes (chopped in halves or quarters)
Garlic Cloves
Olive Oil
Freshly grated cheese (which I forget to get which would have made this so very awesome)
a dash of salt, dried basil, and whatever else suits your fancy
1 chopped shallot
Zuchinni

Prepare your pasta normally

While your water boils, start browning your sausage. I added a few pressed cloves of garlic, a few shakes of basil and oregano, and 1 chopped shallot to the pot.

When the pasta is nearly complete and your sausage is about done, throw some olive oil in a skillet and saute up a few more pressed garlic cloves until nicely fragrant. Add your chopped zucchini, saute a minute or two, add your green pepper, another minute or two, then toss in your tomatoes, and very lastly the arugula. (The arugula is optional in this step, you can also just add that straight to the hot pasta.)

Strain your pasta from the water and add it to your sausage. (Drain any excess grease from the sausage before this step if you're into healthy things) Add the sauteed veggies atop the pasta, throw in some torn basil leaves and mix well, adding olive oil as necessary to make sure things mix well and a dash of salt or pepper to taste.

Serve with freshly grated cheese if you remembered to pick it up at the store!