Zucchini Pasta Bake with a Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

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Moving is terrible and I hate it. For the first 22 years of my life, I lived in the same city, on the same block, in the same house. (You’ve heard this before.) I felt incredibly safe there. Then I move to California, and have moved FIVE times in the past five years.

And now we’re moving again, but this time, back to the east coast. As if moving 3,000 miles away wasn’t stressful enough, we don’t know exactly when we’re moving. It could be as early as next month, but no later than July.

I’m hoping we don’t move as often once we’re out there, and that we can just settle down and make some place our home.

I’ll say it: food is what helps any strange place feel like home. When I make my grandma’s cookies, or my ma’s potato salad, I feel like I’m back in a comfortable environment, surrounded by familiar people and happy memories.

But using food as emotional comfort isn’t healthy… unless the food itself is healthy! I’ve used super lean turkey sausage, and whole wheat pasta, and that makes it healthy enough for me!

Oh, and this is really the best sauce I’ve ever made. It looks simple, right? But the taste is phenomenal! I’ve never used jarred roasted red peppers, so I don’t know how close they are to “homemade” ones, but go ahead and give it a try. This sauce freezes really well too!

Ingredients for Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

• 8 oz. roasted red peppers, remember how we did those?
• 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1, 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flake
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• S+P

Instructions for Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

1. Heat oil on medium-low and add onions, red pepper flakes, and a pinch of salt and pepper to a pot. Sauté until onions are translucent.
2. Add garlic and roasted red peppers. Cook for 2-3 mins more, stirring often so your garlic doesn’t burn.
3. Add can of crusted tomatoes, and simmer on medium-low for 30 mins.
4. Blend sauce smooth.

Ingredients for Zucchini Pasta Bake

• 3 C Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
• 10 oz turkey sausage
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 2 C zucchini, large dice, or half-moons (my zucchini were small, so this took about 3 of them)
• 1/2 large yellow onion, diced
• 6 oz whole wheat pasta
• 2 Tbsp olive oil

Instructions for Zucchini Pasta Bake

1. Heat 1 Tbsp of the oil in a pan, and add sausage, oregano, and fennel seed. Cook until sausage is no longer raw.
2. Remove sausage from pan, and heat the other 1 Tbsp of oil. Now add the onion and the zucchini and sauté only for 2 mins. We just want to get the raw-edge off of these veggies, they’ll finish cooking in the oven.
3. Boil pasta in a separate pot, making sure to only cook it half-way; again, it’ll finish cooking in the oven. Set aside.
4. In a baking dish, combine sausage, pasta, zucchini + onions, and roasted red pepper sauce. Stir together and bake, covered with foil, for 30 mins at 350°.

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1. Aimee says:

   July 29, 2012 at 1:18 am

   The last picture with all the cheese did it for me! Now my mouths watering

   Reply