Ok. So I really enjoy this farm co-op that Jason and I have invested in. It has challenged me to try things I would have never tried, learn new cooking techniques and discover that you can eat things I never dreamed to be edible... However, sometimes we get an overabundance of certain veggies that I can't really keep up with before they go bad. For instance, zucchini, eggplant and yellow summer squash have filled my two bottom drawers in my fridge for the last month. Definitely a beautiful display of God's great eye for design and color but not really sure what to do with all of it (coming from a girl whose extent of veggie preparation six months ago involved a microwave, something frozen and garlic salt). This past week I was lazy. I didn't plan my menu very well and come Wednesday night I had about four squash like creatures and several other freshies getting ready to turn nasty in my drawer. They had to be eaten that night or I was going to become an American statistic of throwing out 40% of my groceries to waste.
What's a mommy to do? Make what I so aptly and grossly named, purge pasta. That's right. I said it. I sliced and diced zucchinni, eggplant, mushrooms, spinach and squash and threw it into a skillet with a little olive oil and minced garlic. I sauteed the heck out of that stuff. Now Jason insists on having meat in his pastas so luckily I had some chicken sundried tomato sausage from Trader Joes that was about to eat it as well. Well, Mr. unrecognizable meat, come join the disposal party. I let that stuff just hang out in all those glorious juices and a marinara sauce for a spell while I prepared some whole wheat spaghetti. I also was lucky enough to find in my mystery produce drawer some fresh garlic cloves that were about to be not so fresh. I popped those in a foil packet with a dab of olive oil and baked for 30 minutes while everything was just stewing. At the end of this experiment lazy meal, I had what Jason quote un quote said was the best pasta he had ever eaten. WHAT???? Not to brag but Italian is kinda my thing. And I have made him some pretty stellar pastas. So, my about to die lazy pasta is the best? Well, I guess I can tote this up to a happy accident. Enjoy.
Veggie Gluttony
Ingredients:
1 zucchini sliced thin
1 medium eggplant peeled and sliced thin
1 yellow summer squash peeled and sliced thin
8 oz container or so of mushrooms
two handfuls of baby spinach? (not so good with measurements)
2 tbs minced garlic
2 tbs olive oil
package of sausage of some sort
Red sauce (I am partial to Trader Joe's Four Cheese Sauce)
Whole wheat spaghetti
two fresh garlic cloves
Directions:
Step 1: Prepare the spaghetti as indicated on the packaging.
Step 2: Pre-heat oven to 350. Using a sharp knife cut the stem off of the garlic clove until the individual cloves are visible. Place on a small piece of foil. Drizzle olive oil over it and seal. Set on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.
Step 2: Meanwhile in a large skillet, brown your sausage with a tablespoon of water for approximately 7 minutes over medium flame. Cut into bite size pieces and return to skillet.
Step 3: Add two tablespoons of olive, minced garlic, and all the veggies. Saute until softened. Lower heat and add sauce. Cover and let simmer.
Step 4: When the pasta and garlic are finished, throw the sauce in and stir.
Voila! Look Ma! I'm eating my veggies!
