Chicken Sausage & Zucchini Penne
with Pink Sauce and Mozzarella
Yield: 2
Adapted from: EveryPlate
Penna pasta and savory chicken sausage mixed with zucchini, garlic, and pink sauce.
Cook: 35
- 1zucchini
- 3cloves garlic
- 1tsp Italian seasoning
- 1TBS tomato paste
- 2TBS cream cheese
- 9oz Italian chicken sausage mix
- ½cup mozzarella cheese
- 6oz penne pasta
- salt & pepper
- cooking oil
- butter
Prep:
Heat the broiler to high. Bring a medium pot of salted water to boil. Wash and dry produce. Trim and quarter zucchini lengthwise, slice crosswise into ¼-inch-thick pieces. Peel and finely chop garlic.
Sauté zucchini:
Heat a drizzle of oil in a large, preferably ovenproof, pan over high heat. Add zucchini and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until browned and tender, 4-5 minutes. Turn off heat, remove from pan and set aside.
Cook pasta:
Once water is boiling, add pasta to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 9-11 minutes. Reserve ½ cup pasta cooking water, then drain.
Cook sausage:
Meanwhile, heat a drizzle of oil in pan used for zucchini over medium-high heat. Add sausage, cook, breaking up meat into pieces, until browned and cooked through, 4-6 minutes. Add garlic and Italian Seasoning, cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds. Stir in tomato paste until thoroughly coated.
Make sauce:
Slowly stir 1 cup plain water into pan with sausage mixture until combined. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer, stirring often, until sauce has thickened, 3-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in cream cheese and 1 TBS butter until melted.
Stir in drained pasta and zucchini. If needed, add splashes of reserved pasta cooking water until everything is thoroughly coated in sauce. Taste and season with salt and pepper. (If your pan isn’t ovenproof, transfer pasta mixture to a baking dish now.) Evenly top with mozzarella. Broil until melted and lightly browned, 2-3 minutes. (Watch carefully to avoid burning. The broiler is a powerful tool!) Let cool slightly, then divide between plates.