Fork it Over: Brussels Pesto Sausage Pasta
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And thank you to all who entered!
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I'm pretty sure when I signed the contract starting this blog, I promised to always be honest with you, my fair (three or four) readers! I continuously strive to live up to this lofty goal, which is sometimes difficult for me -- as you may know, I frequently keep things to myself and have a hard time opening up about my thoughts and feelings and complaints.
(Yeah, right! That's me. The under-sharer.)
Anyway, I still try to be honest, while projecting the best possible view of my life. This is the internet after all! All of this is to say, I apologize for the less-than-stellar food photography in this post...but this is real life, and sometimes I get home after work at 7pm and just want to make something easy and comforting.
I figured, you might be the same way! Presenting: Brussel-Pesto-Sausage-Pasta. Click the link to get the full recipe in the rest of this post!
Ingredients
- about half a pound to a pound of Brussels sprouts (depending on how vegetable-heavy you want this dish to be.) - two to three tofurky sausages or sausage of your choice - a pound of pasta (I love the curly Cavatappi) - one to two containers of pesto (again, to taste!)
Step 1: Wash and chop your brussel sprouts in half. I try to pick smaller-sized ones so the halves will be bite sized.
Place them in a steamer (a pot with holes on the bottom) and place over boiling water until you can poke them with a fork. This usually takes about 5-10 minutes, not long! If you don't have a steaming pot then you can steam them with some water in a microwave.
Step 2: Chop up your sausage (I know, it looks pretty ugly, but it adds some delicious protein) and pan-cook them until the outsides are crisp.
Step 3: Cook your pasta according to directions. Duh.
Step 4: MIX. I added extra pesto this incarnation because of the extra brussels sprouts and sausage I'd added - plus, this dish is designed to serve approximately 7000, so extra pesto won't hurt anyone.
Serve with a bit of salt & pepper, a garnish of parmesan, and a jigger of red wine (alright maybe a goblet.) Also, be prepared to eat this for about five days straight - if you're like me, that won't bother you one bit!
It's a great winter dish, combining the heartiness of a stew without the soupiness, and comforting the soul a bit when the wind nips at your inadequate San Francisco windows. Trust me, I know about this.