Of course we know what you’re thinking! After all these years, we have a pretty good idea what you’re looking for…Summer recipes on (nearly) the last day of Summer… isn’t it?! Really?! Well… don’t fret too much. It’s an idea you probably haven’t had before but what if some delicious Summer-inspired recipes could be replicated inside your home. Sure, it might be too cool or too windy to fire up the grill, but you don’t need to! After all, when you use your noggin, we all know that anything is possible.
Hot Dogs can (and often do) sketch a lot of people out. We’ve all heard the horror stories about what exactly is in that hot dog, but instead of opting for a Hot Dog in a Bun, turn things a lot fresher and a little more fun with this healthier sausage based twist. Honestly, there’s only one thing you’ll need since it is the base of this concept and that is…Sausage.
Now, we’re pretty darn particular when it comes to grocery store sausage offerings so we’re going with Al Fresco’s for a few reasons.
1. You can’t find it in every grocery, so it’s just a touch on the higher end. (Which is a good thing!)
2. It is easy to remove the “casing” from the sausage, which we’re going to do to help cook it.
3. It tastes good! That means… flavor and texture. It basically makes your mouth dance a little.
Here is the “recipe” for this dish, which is going to be more of a “how-to” since we want you to do the hard part!
- 1 packet of Al Fresco Chicken Sausage
- 1 box of veggie pasta
- Salt
- Whatever you want to make the sauce (get creative!)
- Boil a pot of VERY WELL SALTED water.
- Using a sharp knife, slice into the sausages and peel off the casing. Then, cut the sausage into third-inch slices.
- Drop your pasta! (We used a veggie based pasta with less carbs and fat than normal. Hawaii prep... you know the deal.)
- Bring a sauce pan to med-high heat with a coating of high-quality olive oil.
- Salt/pepper the sausages and place the seasoned side of the sausage slices face down into the pan. Salt/pepper and flip them after 2 minutes.
- After 2 more minutes, remove them from the pan and let them rest.
- Drain your pasta AND use some of that amazing starchy water (not so much for veggie based pasta) as a base for your sauce. This is where you get creative. We added butter and white wine to the sausage pan, which helped bring out some of those caramelized bits from the pan and create a nice sauce.
- Serve how you want and enjoy!