Bowtie Pasta with Roasted Onions, Peppers, and Veggie Sausage

This is an easy dinner that everyone loves. Not all plant-based sausages are created equal. This is our favorite by Tofurky. We also always use high protein pasta just to make everything even more nutrient dense. And we sometimes (and sometimes not) garnish with the Follow Your Heart brand of vegan parmesan which is our favorite. This recipe makes enough for leftovers for lunch the next day which taste delicious even cold. The key to deliciousness with this recipe is to make sure that your veggies and sausage are nicely coated with the olive oil mixture but not drowning in it and that you let them crisp up nicely with a little brown/ black on the edges here and there. Also, make sure you chop everything into similar size pieces so that everything browns evenly.

Prep time: 20 min

Cook time 25 min

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 6 - 8 large bell peppers (get a variety of colors) - chopped into bite sized pieces

• 2 large red onions chopped

• 1 large yellow or white onion chopped

• 2 - 14oz packages of Tofurky Italian sausage sliced into 1/4" pieces

• 4 Tbsp. olive oil

• juice of 1 lemon

• 6 cloves garlic

• 2 Tbsp Italian seasoning

• 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

• 1 tsp. kosher salt

• 2 - 12-16oz boxes of high-protein bowtie pasta.

• optional: vegan parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line 2 regular (1/2 sheet sized) baking sheets with parchment as well as a third large (full sheet sized) baking sheet with parchment.

2. Chop all of your vegetables and sausage into evenly sized pieces and place them in a large mixing bowl (2 bowls if they don't fit.)

3. In a liquid measuring cup, combine the olive oil, fresh lemon juice, garlic, seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir and pour into the vegetable and sausage bowl.

4. Mix everything thoroughly with a wooden spoon, while trying to mash the onion pieces so that the layers mostly break apart.

5. Pour the veggies and sausage evenly spaced between the 3 baking sheets. Make sure nothing is layered (veggies on top of one another will end up being steamed, not roasted and crispy.)

6. Place the baking sheets in the oven for 10 minutes, then rotate the sheets for even cooking and roast for another 8 - 15 minutes. It really depends on your oven so keep checking that everything ends up crispy, but not totally burnt.

7. While the vegetables are cooking, cook your pasta according to the package instructions. If the pasta finishes before the veggies, put it in the mixing bowls with a couple more tablespoons of olive oil and stir to keep the pasta from sticking.

8. When the veggies and sausage are done, remove them from the oven and carefully scoop them into the mixing bowl and mix with the pasta.

9. Serve while hot. Feel free to garnish with vegan parmesan (or not) and enjoy!