Creamy Sausage and Zucchini Pasta

It been all about simple meals this week at chez Good Appetite. I think between coming back from a weekend up North & getting ready for a visit from my parents later in the week, cooking became less of a priority. We had a bit of a cool, rainy day the other day so this quick pasta full of fresh summer zucchini & our own ground sausage really hit the spot.

I usually don't make this sort of dish with a cream sauce but I was really craving it. I think the best part was it only took 1/4 cup of half & half to make it creamy and comforting without being super bad for you.

Creamy Sausage and Zucchini Pasta

3 oz pasta shape of choice
1/2 T olive oil
1/2 lb bulk Italian sausage
1 large zucchini, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
1 t garlic, minced
pinch red pepper flakes
14-oz can petit diced tomatoes
2 T all-purpose flour
2 T vodka (optional)
1/4 c half & half
pepper
grated Romano cheese

Cook pasta according to directions.

Meanwhile heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage & cooked until browned. Add the zucchini, garlic & red pepper flakes. Sauté until the zucchini is just starting to get soft but you still want it to have a bite to it. Stir in the tomatoes & bring to a bubble. Turn the heat down to medium-low. Sprinkle the flour over everything & cook while stirring for 1 minutes. Stir in the vodka and half & half and cook until thickened. Season with a generous amount of pepper.

Serve over the cooked pasta with grated cheese on top.

serves 2 - 3

If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://agoodappetite.blogspot.com OR at http://agoodappetite.com then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at katbaro AT yahoo DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author unless otherwise noted.
© 2007-2009 Kathy Lewinski