Sunday, March 28, 2010

Zucchini, Sausage, and Feta Casserole

Thursday night after work I had a lot of chores that needed to be done around our little home. We were going up to Maine for the weekend so I had to pack and clean (for some odd reason I always like to clean before I leave for a weekend). My recipe for the evening, Zucchini, Sausage, and Feta Casserole, Cooking Light from July 2007, gave me the time to do all of that while it was baking. The meal was delicious, nutritious, and allowed for time efficiency! All great things!

Lauren's review: This meal tasted fresh and healthy while being satisfying. Delicious! However... removing the casings from the sausage is NO easy task! I think I may have gotten half of the casings off before giving up. I have to find a better way to do this!
Matt's review: This is really good!
Final decision: It's a keeper!

Zucchini, Sausage, and Feta Casserole

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups uncooked ziti (short tube-shaped pasta)
8 ounces chicken sausage
Cooking spray
1 teaspoon olive oil
5 cups thinly sliced zucchini (about 1 1/2 pounds)
2 cups vertically sliced onion (about 1)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400°.

Cook pasta in boiling water 5 minutes, omitting salt and fat; drain.

Remove casings from sausage. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add sausage to pan; cook until browned, stirring to crumble. Remove from pan. Heat oil in pan. Add zucchini, onion, salt, pepper, and garlic. Cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender and zucchini begins to brown, stirring occasionally.

Combine broth and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add broth mixture to pan; cook 1 minute. Combine zucchini mixture, pasta, sausage, and feta cheese in a large bowl; toss well. Spoon pasta mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned.

Serves 6


Try this recipe! It is really good!

If anyone has any tips or tricks for removing sausage casings they would all be appreciated!

2 comments:

  1. After many attempts, I figured out a way that works for me to remove the casings - if you take a sharp knife, make a long cut down the length of the sausage. From there, you should be able to peel the casing off all the way around. I can show you next time we get together. :)

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  2. Thanks Lauren! I remember watching you when you made that delicious lasagna but my memory didn't help me very much last Thursday.

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