Description
A fresh and delicious zucchini pasta salad with Italian sausage, roasted red peppers, and a basil pesto dressing.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 tsp. olive oil
- 5 links Italian sausage (see notes)
- 12 oz. roasted red peppers
- 6 oz. (drained) black olives
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onion
- 2 medium zucchini (see notes)
- 1/4 cup basil pesto (see notes)
- 1/2 cup Newman’s Own Olive Oil and Vinegar Dressing (see notes)
- fresh-ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a medium-sized frying pan and cook the sausages over medium heat until they’re nicely browned on all sides, turning often. (Don’t rush this step.) Put browned sausage on a cutting board to cool.
- While the sausage cooks, blend or whisk together the basil pesto, vinaigrette dressing, and fresh-ground black pepper to make the dressing.
- Drain the red peppers in a colander placed in the sink, then pat dry and cut into bite sized pieces.
- Drain the olives into the same colander. Thinly slice enough green onions to make 1/4 cup.
- When it’s cool enough to handle, slice the sausage into thin slices, about 3/8 inch or just over 1 cm.
- You can buy zucchini noodles at the store if you prefer; many markets sell them in the produce department!
- If you’re making zucchini noodles, wash zucchini if needed and cut off both ends. Make a small slit lengthwise in the zucchini so you’ll get individual noodles.
- Use one of the How to Make Zucchini Noodles; I used the Spiralizer with the large noodle blade.
- Put the noodles into a bowl big enough to hold all the ingredients. Stir in desired amount of dressing to moisten all the noodles.
- Then gently stir in the sliced sausage, red pepper pieces, olives, and sliced green onions.
- Serve Zucchini Pasta Salad right away or chill for a few hours before serving.
- This was still quite good after it has been in the fridge overnight, although it was best freshly made.
Notes
- Use high-quality Italian sausage for the best flavor.
- Fresh zucchini noodles can be made with a spiralizer or purchased pre-made.
- Adjust the amount of dressing to your preference.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: Salad
- Method: Sautéing, Blending
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cup
- Calories: 340
- Sugar: 2g
- Sodium: 750mg
- Fat: 25g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Unsaturated Fat: 18g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 14g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 15g
- Cholesterol: 45mg