For most of the year, we Midwesterners are stuck with vegetables grown somewhere down south and picked before they’re really ripe. Then they get trucked up here, artfully arranged in the supermarket and finally make it to our kitchens, where they taste… like nothing.
But, for a brief and fleeting few months, we have produce that’s fresh and flavorful. We’re getting into that season now, and if anyone tells you there’s something wrong with a diet of buttery sweet corn for two months, send them to me.
Anyway, when summer finally hits, it’s time to take advantage of all those delicious vegetables. One thing I like to make is this stupid-easy pasta. I say stupid-easy because it has very few ingredients, requires just about zero kitchen know-how (Do you know how to turn your oven on? Can I trust you with a sharp knife? How are your water-boiling skills? You’ll be fine,) and can be customized in a bunch of different ways. And the end result will taste like it took you hours and everyone will think you’re some kind of kitchen superhero.
Here’s what you’ll need:
- Assorted fresh vegetables – I used a red onion, a red pepper, zucchini, asparagus and sliced crimini mushrooms
- 1 lb pasta – we happened to have orecchiette, which worked really nicely, but you could use anything
- 3 Italian sausage links (spicy or mild as your taste dictates)
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper – I’m fancy so I use pepper from a grinder and sea salt. But regular old salt and pepper would work just fine [Editor’s note: No, it won’t. Always use fresh ground pepper and course salt like sea salt or kosher salt.]
- 3/4 cup white wine
Preheat your oven to 450 and then start by chopping the vegetables. I cut my zucchini into rounds and the pepper and onion into chunks. They do not have to be pretty. The mushrooms I bought already sliced, but if you have whole ones you could certainly leave them whole. If you use asparagus, bend it so it snaps. Discard the end piece. I then snapped my pieces in half again so they were smaller.
Throw all the vegetables on a cookie sheet. Make sure they’re completely dry — we want to roast them, not steam them. Coat with a little bit of olive oil (it works fine if you drizzle oil over them and then toss them around a little with a spatula,) and then sprinkle liberally with pepper and sea salt.
The nice thing about this is you could really use whatever vegetables you like. My dad lamented the lack of green pepper, but I can’t stand green peppers. So I left it out. But you can really add anything. Don’t like mushrooms? I won’t be offended if you don’t use them.
Put the tray of vegetables in the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes. After about 7 minutes you’ll notice that your kitchen smells kind of amazing. At this point you can start a big pot of water for your pasta. Salt it gently and cook according to the package directions and drain.
After 15 minutes, take the tray out and give the vegetables a good stir with a spatuala. Return them to the oven for another 15 minutes.
This is when we’ll cook the sausage. I used three links of mild Italian sausage, but you could use hot if you wanted. Or go half-and-half. Totally up to you.
It’s easiest if your sausages are just slightly frozen, so you can slice them. Slice into rounds, and you’ll notice that it’s really easy to take the casing off. If they squish when you slice them because they’re too warm, you can just squeeze them out of the casing and have sausage chunks instead of sausage slices. No big deal.
Pour some olive oil — just a little, so the sausage doesn’t stick to the pan. About halfway around the pan will do it — into a skillet. Turn it up to medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the sausage. This will, of course, splatter and get oil all over your stove and your dad will come home and say “What are you DOING THERE’S OIL EVERYWHERE” but he’ll forget all about being mad once he tastes the final product.
I hope.
Anyway, once the sausage is cooked through and a little brown, add your white wine to deglaze. All this means is it helps get all the brown bits up from the bottom. Let this bubble for a minute or two and then turn the heat off.
By now, your pasta should be done and the vegetables should be out of the oven. All that’s left to do is combine everything. A giant bowl works best for this. Make sure you get all the liquid from the sausage pan. No, that part probably isn’t good for you. Get over it. There’s enough vegetables in this thing to make up for it.
Give it a good mix and there you go. Serve with some crusty bread and listen to everyone say, “Wow. This is awesome.” In the words of my 16-year-old sister (who is going through a seemingly permanent difficult-to-please phase,) “I don’t even LIKE sausage. But yeah, this is good.”
Enjoy!
