Nibbles with Nelly
Vegan spirals and red sauce with Italian sausages and parmesan
Hello, and welcome to the Blue Barn Farm and Sanctuary. Whenever I ask my husband to suggest something for dinner, he always comes up with ideas that I had not considered. This week, it was spiral pasta with Italian sausage and parmesan cheeze. Field Roast makes the most delicious 100% plant-based Italian garlic and fennel sausages. This is super important because my husband is Italian, and his mother raised him on her homemade red sauce, with Italian sausages. The trick is to let is simmer as long as possible, letting all of the flavors really get to know each other in there. You cannot rush perfection.
Simmering red sauce is a wonderful thing to be thankful for!
Looking at this picture, you are probably wondering what all got put into the pot. Well, let me tell you. I start by doing a dry sauté of the mushrooms. I put them in a bowl and set them aside while I build the sauce. First comes the coconut oil with the spices, just for a few minutes on low heat, stirring frequently. Next, the garlic and onion get tossed in with the spices and oil. Once the onions look like they are ready for some more friends, I add the sausages in. I should note that they come whole, and I cut them up into bite-sized pieces. It says you can crumble them on the package. I tried that once, and wasn’t very impressed with the effort it took and in the end I had to cut them anyways to be able to actually crumble them. It was a messy affair, and I have decided to not do that again. Thus, I have sliced Italian sausages in my red sauce. Thank goodness they are still delicious!
I digress… After the sausages have a chance to brown a bit, I add the mushrooms back into the pot. They cook for about 7-8 minutes before incorporating the tomato paste and crushed fire roasted tomatoes. Except this time, I got lazy and bought a jar of premade red sauce to use as my base. (I do that sometimes, and usually end up regretting it. Rarely do I use premade red sauce and feel like it has the full flavor I love. This one wasn’t too bad.) All of this gets to boiling. I cover the pot, and walk away for about 20-30 minutes. Then comes the spinach. I use a lot of spinach. It cooks down so much and provides such a nice green accent to the sauce that I typically will put the entire half pound bag of fresh spinach leaves in there. I just leave them on top of the sauce at first, and put the lid back on to steam them. This makes them easier to work with as far as stirring them into the sauce. Again, I walk away for a bit, and let the sauce just do its thing on the stove top. Right before I am ready to serve it up, I add some fresh basil.
While all that is happening with the sauce, I boil up some pasta. My favorite is made by this company that makes organic brown rice spiral noodles. Their packaging says, “Pasta Joy”. Who wouldn’t love that? The wording alone makes me want to support them, and then the fact that they have organic pasta seals the deal. Pasta Joy it is. And of course, no pasta dish is complete with out some vegan parmesan cheeze sprinkled on top. Pure heaven!
This holiday season, as we come together in celebration of all that we are thankful for, let’s remember what a blessing it is being fortunate enough to be able to choose what we put on our plate. The choices we make are not just about our meals, but they are also about the products we purchase, the kindness we share, and the compassion we radiate. Having empathy for another living soul is a beautiful thing. The more we connect to that experience of harmonizing with life, the easier it becomes to see animals as friends and not food. This holiday season, challenge yourself to make a dish that is in the spirit of gratitude, kindness, compassion, and empathy. Going plant-based can be as easy as one-two-three. This one change, can make all the difference in another being’s life.
From all of us at the Blue Barn Farm and Sanctuary, have a safe and blessed holiday season. Share your love, your smile, and a kind word. Take time to really listen, and be the change you wish to see in the world.
Miss Nelly Rose and friends