One of my favourite summer meals, right here! Pasta is always a comfort food for me, and this fresh summer pasta recipe is an original by my mom. I have memories since she invented it in high school of sitting on the porch and having dinner with my family, while the birds chirp around us and the sun gives off that evening golden light. Give me a classic Bolognese in the winter, but in the summer, this is all I want – super fresh, a little spicy, and so delicious.
Hi, blog readers, who I appreciate oh-so-much! I missed posting last week for the first time ever, but oh wow it’s been a whirlwind! I am back home in Quebec now, after a winter spent out west in the Canadian Rockies, skiing, enjoying the big mountains and life to its fullest extent. It’s been a busy week of driving across the country, family visits, and unpacking a whole lot of gear!
Ryan and I don’t have jobs that anchor us in one spot, what with being professional athletes, nor do we currently have kids, so we figured why not take advantage. The winter training out in the big mountains (and big snow!) was soooo fun. I sure have a good cardio base built for the season to come, as it’s so easy to put in long days when you’re having fun in a beautiful new place. Now it’s time to start building upon that base, and incorporating more speed work in to my training to sharpen up for the season to come. I slowly started doing that about a month ago, and now I’m putting in some final key workouts (shorter race simulations, V02 max), because my first race is in only three weeks! Kicking things off with Hochkonig Skyrace in Austria, followed by Mountain Running World Championships the next weekend, where I’ll be representing Canada. Just straight off the high-diving board in to the deep end, this year lol!
Anyways, back to food-related things. I love savoury food in the winter, but in the summer I want to take advantage of all the fresh foods available! This sauce is made with loads of fresh tomatoes, colourful red and yellow peppers, garden herbs and sundried tomatoes. My mom invented this recipe back when I was in high school with some ingredients kicking around in the fridge, and I never let her stop making it.
We all know pasta is a great pre-race food or recovery food. I do eat this before races, though I’ll make it a bit less spicy, and I’ll swap the hot Italian sausage for chicken. Still delicious, but not quite the same… that hot Italian sausage is key to the flavour of this pasta dish! It gives you carbs you need to get your engine fired up for race day, and it’s good to incorporate some protein pre-race as well. Outside of racing, I’ll make this probably once a month all summer long, and I like to make enough to have leftovers for dinner the following night, too! I’ll serve it with a “salad” or whatever fresh veggies I have laying around, like sliced cucumber or tomato, some torn basil on top, salt and pepper and a drizzle of balsamic glaze. It puts me solidly in my happy place.
Mom gave me this binder of all my favourite recipes when I went away to university. This is a photo of this recipe straight out of my binder, well-used and loved!
Mumzy's Summer Sausage Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Roasted Peppers
Servings: 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 package hot italian sausage (Can be ground, or about 5 sausages)
1 onion, chopped
1 yellow pepper, sliced
5 fresh tomatoes, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 cup julienned sun dried tomatoes in oil (or you can buy whole, but they're a mess to chop)
1 handful fresh basil, roughly chopped
1tsp chicken bouillon
Hot pepper flakes to taste (I use about 1/2 tsp)
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 package pasta of choice
DIRECTIONS
If you purchased ground sausage meat, put this in a large pan on the stove over medium heat to start cooking. If you purchased your hot Italian sausage meat in the form of sausages, use a serraded knife to slice these in to 1/2cm thick rounds, then start them cooking. While your sausage cooks, slice your onions, peppers, and tomatoes. Chop your garlic and basil.
Once your sausage meat is cooked through, remove it from the pan and set it aside.
To the pan, add about 1tbsp of oil from your jar of sun dried tomatoes. Don't add the tomatoes yet, though, we just want the oil to cook with because it contains lots of flavour. Add your chopped onions and sliced peppers to the pan. Cook them, stirring occasionally, for about 8 minutes until the onions are translucent and the peppers have softened.
Stir in your garlic, oregano and thyme, and cook for 2 more minutes. Now add all the fresh chopped tomatoes, and 1tsp chicken bouillon. Cover the pan with a large lid, and let the tomatoes cook down for about 5 minutes until they look saucey.
Add your sun dried tomatoes, and hot pepper flakes. Also stir in your cooked sausage and any drippings. Cover the pan with the lid again, and turn the heat down to low. Let this simmer while you cook your pasta according to package directions.
Strain your pasta once it's cooked. Give your pasta sauce a taste. Add salt and pepper, and additional hot pepper flakes to your taste preference.
Dish out your pasta in to bowls, and cover it with delicious sauce! I mix any leftover pasta in the remaining sauce, transfer it to an airtight container, and store it in the fridge for up to a week. The leftovers somehow taste even better!
