Rotini alle Verdure con Salsiccia

This is adapted from "Fettucine alle Verdure" in The Classic Pasta Cookbook; I've probably mangled the Italian in adapting the recipe title to add sausages. The original recipe takes a while to make, but very little effort, and is tasty; however, it's entirely lacking in protein. symbol suggested adding the sausages we had just speculatively prefetched to it, with delicious results. I cooked the sausages separately and added them post hoc, as they were a last-minute addition; this recipe has written as I would have cooked it had the sausages been planned in from the start.

If you're a bit scant on eggplant (as we were) you can always toss in an extra bell pepper. We used Beyond Meat sausages, but I expect it would work just fine with actual pork, too.

Rotini alle Verdure coi Salsiccia

The Classic Pasta Cookbook p.92

Ingredients

• 2 red bell peppers
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• ¼ C olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 lb mild italian sausages, skinned and broken apart
  
• 2 C eggplant, peeled and cut into ½" cubes
• 2 C zucchini, cut into ½" cubes
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into ½" squares
• salt and black pepper
• 1 lb dried rotini
• ¼ C freshly grated parmesan
  

Directions

1. Half the red bell peppers. Place them on a baking sheet and broil until black and blistered, ~8 minutes. Remove to a bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let stand 20 minutes.
2. Remove the bell peppers from the bowl, scrape off the blistered skin, remove the cores, and add to a blender with the butter. Blend low until it forms a uniform red sauce.
3. While the bell peppers are resting, add the olive oil and garlic to a large, deep skillet over medium heat.
4. Once the garlic is sizzling, add the sausage, eggplant, zucchini, and bell pepper. Mix well and then cover, cooking until the vegetables and tender and the sausage is cooked through, ~15 minutes.
5. While all this is happening, start the water boiling for the pasta, and cook it al dente.
   
6. When the vegetables are done, add the bell pepper sauce, along with salt and black pepper to taste; remove from the heat.
7. When the pasta is done, add it and the parmesan to the skillet, toss together, and serve.