This dish is a nice twist on classic spaghetti. Flavorful, easy to make, less messy to make, and unlike traditional spaghetti, it includes extra fresh veggies!

Prep time: 15 minutes Cook time: 25 minutes Total time = 40 minutes

Serves: 6ish

• 1/2-3/4 lb of rigatoni or penne pasta
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 yellow onion
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (totally optional, but definitely yummy if you like a little spicy)
• 1 lb mild Italian sausage
• 5 cloves of garlic, or about 3 Tablespoons of jar garlic
• 1 can tomato paste
• 1 small 10 oz container grape tomatoes
• 1 cup white wine or chicken broth
• 1 large zucchini
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup fresh basil (about one 0.5 oz container)
• Parmesan cheese, shredded or freshly grated

• Start your pasta water by boiling salted water over medium-high heat.
• Dice your onion. Chop your zucchini into quarters.
• In another large pot, add olive oil, onion, and crushed red pepper and cook until the onion is soft, about 10 minutes.
• Add in Italian sausage and break it into smaller pieces, cooking until brown and no pink remains.
• Add in garlic and cook for 1 minute or until fragrant (meaning you can smell the garlic cooking).
• Stir in tomato paste.
• Add in tomatoes and white wine (or chicken broth) and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring now and then, until the tomatoes begin to burst and let out their juices. Use your spoon to gently burst the tomatoes after about 10 minutes if they are not popping on their own.
• If you haven’t yet, get your pasta cooking per instructions on the box for “al dente.” Try and remember to save 1/2 cup of cooking water.
• Add zucchini to your tomato mixture and cook for 5 minutes.
• Once the pasta is done, drain pasta, saving about 1/2 cup of the water, and toss the pasta into the pot with the sauce and stir well to combine. If it is too thick, add some of the pasta water. Only add pasta water if needed.
• Chop up your basil. Add to your pot and stir it in.
• Remove from heat and serve, topping with Parmesan cheese.

• If you do not like spicy foods, do not add the crushed red pepper flakes and keep your Italian sausage mild. If you do like spicy, you could also use spicy Italian sausage. I do not, however, recommend using more red pepper flakes. Less is more with those little flakes of fire.
• If you don’t have white wine OR chicken broth…water will do in a pinch, but it will also water down (literally) your flavors.
• Fresh garlic is fantastic. However, I like to save just a little time and I do buy the garlic already chopped in a jar. Judge away, but I barely notice a difference in flavor and it saves me chopping time. You won’t get any judgement from me if you also go this route, which is why I included it as an option.
• You can buy fresh Parmesan and grate it yourself or the shredded Parmesan to skip the grating step.
• If you don’t have fresh basil, dry basil is…okay. In a pinch, I have just sprinkled it all over the top of the pot and stirred it in. There is a definite flavor difference here though. Nothing beats fresh basil.
• I rarely have white wine on hand because we aren’t big drinkers anymore. However, when I do add white wine, I use a Pinot Grigio. Chardonnay would probably be the better option, but I don’t touch the stuff. I wouldn’t use anything too sweet and definitely nothing sparkling or flavored. So no Moscato, Prosecco, Champagne, etc.

This is a great family dinner dish. Comfort food meets clean eating. If you want a few more greens, serving a simple Italian salad alongside it would pair nicely and you can even add some Parmesan to the top of the salad. You could also go on the lower side of pasta and add more zucchini. You can also have garlic or Italian bread with it, but I usually skip this because the noodles end up being filling enough.

As always, if you try this recipe and love it as much as I do be sure and tag me on Instagram @minnesotamillennialmom or send me an email, minnesotamillennialmom@gmail.com.

Happy cooking! Enjoy!