Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Dinner: Tomato, sausage pasta with lemony green beans

I tried a new recipe from the latest edition of Cooking Light for dinner tonight: Fresh Tomato, Sausage and Percorino Pasta with Lemony Green Beans. I usually love Cooking Light recipes. Normally, they are very flavorful and easily adaptable to our individual tastes. I have to say, I was a little disappointed by this recipe.

The green beans were my favorite part of the meal - steamed and tossed with lemon peel, lemon juice, olive oil, a little kosher salt and pepper. They were crisp and slightly tangy and a wonderful summer side dish. I will definitely be making them again.

The pasta ... well, it was bland and uninteresting. To be fair, I had to leave out the onions because Sean is not a fan (to put it mildly). I didn't replace them with another vegetable, though, and I probably should have. Usually, skipping the onions is no biggie, but not today - the success of this dish hinges on the onions, I guess.

I really liked the big chunks of fresh tomato and, of course, I always enjoy a good sprinkling of fresh basil. But, the pasta ratio was way out of balance: too much pasta and not enough sausage and tomatoes.

I think if I make this dish again, I might decrease the amount of pasta by half and use rotini instead. I might also toss the whole concoction with a light basil pesto. Does sausage go with pesto, though? I can't decide. The dish really screams for a wee bit of sauce to hold everything together so if I don't use pesto, I'll have to think of something else. Any suggestions?

Have you tried any new weeknight dinner recipes lately?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

When I was working in the Hospital they used sausage in their pesto. That is when I was working at the downtown Harris Hospital, because the had a Head Cheff love using sausage in his pesto. He use a spicy sausage in his meals. The customers love it and always came back for seconds. You might try that an see.
Mary

Staishy Bostick Siem said...

Thanks for the recommendation! I am glad to hear it was a good combination and will be worth a try.

Daina said...

pesto goes with anything in my opinion!

Debra said...

Just like hollandaise sauce - Mmmm. Though, I don't think I have ever eaten pesto. Staishy, be sure and let us know how it turns out.