Sausage and Grilled Vegetable Penne

After describing last week's grilled sausage and pasta dish to my husband, his reply was "and then you are going to add pasta sauce?" I explained that no, I wouldn't add pasta sauce, but that the lemon juice/pasta water would create a light sauce. He seemed disappointed by this prospect, although he ended up enjoying the dish.

This weekend we were having some guests for dinner, so when looking for inspiration, I found another sausage/pasta/vegetable dish that would take the addition of some red sauce quite well. The meal turned out great and I was happy to prepare my husband what he had really wanted!



Sausage and Grilled Vegetable Penne
Source: Slight adapted from Melissa d'Arabian
Serves: 4

• 1 sweet onion, cut into wedges
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced in 1/2 lengthwise and then into strips about 3/4" thick
• 1 red bell pepper, cheeks and seeds removed, sliced into long strips about 3/4" thick
• 1/2 pound button mushrooms, stemmed and sliced in half
• 2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 pint grape tomatoes, washed, dried, sliced in half
• 4 sweet or hot chicken Italian sausages, thinly sliced or casings removed
• 12 ounces whole-grain penne
• about 16-20 ounces pasta sauce 
• Freshly grated Parmesan, for garnish

Preheat the grill and a grill pan to medium, about 400-450 degrees F. 

In a bowl, toss all the vegetables, except the tomatoes, with oil. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Add vegetables to grill pan and cook until caramelized, turning vegetables halfway through the cooking time.  Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions, and warm the pasta sauce. 

Add the sausage to the grill and cook until heated through, for fully cooked sausage.  Uncooked sausage will take longer, about 20 minutes.  Once the vegetables and sausage are cooked, cool slightly, then coarsely chop. Add vegetables, sausage, pasta and sauce to a large bowl and toss to combine.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and serve topped with Parmesan.