Pasta Primavera with Sausage and Pesto Cream Sauce

What a long week I've had, normally I only work 23-25 hours but because my co-worker in the bakery was sick so I ended up with a 43 hour work week. I'm not going to complain though, I really love to keep busy. We are also experimenting with teas at work. My manager made chai on Saturday and tomorrow we'll be testing it. I'm super excited to see how it turned out.

Onto the food... this is very similar to the rigatoni with sausage, mushrooms and zucchini I made in my very first food post! I've added more vegetables to make it a primavera though. I was in the mood for vegetables, which is normal. I also added a little arugula pesto to the sauce base.

Pasta Primavera with Sausage and Pesto Cream Sauce

1 lb penne, cooked

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup broccoli florets

1 cup cauliflower florets

1/2 cup green beans, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1/4 cup onion, chopped 

1 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced

3 cloves garlic

1 cup zucchini, julienned

1/4 cup red pepper, chopped

1 tablespoon lemon juice

salt and pepper, to taste 

8 oz italian sausage

1/2 cup white wine
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 eggs
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

3 tablespoons arugula pesto

• In a large pan over medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and saute the broccoli, cauliflower and green beans until tender. Remove from the pan and add the remainder of the olive oil.
• Add the onions and saute. Add the mushrooms and continue cooking. One the mushrooms start to brown, add the garlic, zucchini and red pepper and let cook for another 1-2 minutes.
• Add the broccoli, cauliflower and green beans back into the pan. Add the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the liquid is gone and remove the vegetables from the pan and put into a bowl.
• In the pan, add the sausage and cook thoroughly. Once finished, put the sausage into the vegetable bowl.
• To the pan, add the wine and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the liquid is reduced by half.
• In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, eggs, parmesan and arugula pesto. Add this to the white wine and stir. Add in the vegetable and sausage mixture and toss. Add in the pasta as well and if needed, leftover pasta water to help thin it out.

I topped the pasta with a tomato and basil mixture. I mixed olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sugar, water and pepper together and tossed the tomatoes and basil in.

Ashley