Veggie Sausage Bake

I am going to share one of my favorite recipes. 4 months into vegetarianism and I'm already in love with veggie sausage. I never even liked regular sausage but I can't get enough of this stuff. It's got such a great flavor without that greasy, lardy taste you get with regular sausage. It's the one vegetarian item that I think most people would enjoy, even if they don't like vegetarian products because it's just that good. :)

I think I used another recipe as a guide but I'm not sure where it came from...this recipe is just written on a piece of paper which means that I didn't exactly like what the recipe said and changed it a bit.

Veggie Sausage Bake
Serves 2

• 5 oz vegetarian sausage (I used 2 links Morningstar Farm's Italian Sausage)
• 1 1/2 cups WW shaped pasta (rotini, macaroni, penne...whichever you like)
• 1/2 tsp olive oil
• 3 medium zucchini, sliced and quartered
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable broth
• 1 Tb. + 1 tsp. flour
• 1 oz white cheddar (Monterey jack works well too)
• 2 oz feta cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cook pasta in boiling water 6 minutes and drain. Do not cook pasta all the way.

Heat skillet and coat with nonstick spray. Cook sausage until browned. Remove from skillet and cut into slices (sausage will crumble a bit, which is perfect). 

Cook zucchini 1-2 minutes. Add sausage into pan along with spices. Cook 1-2 minutes more. 

After finding out just how expensive pre-made vegetable broth (some were $5 for 32 oz!! which still baffles me since vegetables are not more expensive than a whole chicken!), I was very happy to find this little guy in my Publix. Each cube makes 2 cups of broth and this whole container was only $1.49! That's more like it. Just place a cube in a measuring cup and pour 2 cups of boiling water over it. Stir and viola! Vegetable broth.

Combine broth and flour in a small bowl or measuring cup. Add to zucchini mixture. Add feta.

Prepare casserole dish with nonstick spray. Combine mixture and pasta into prepared casserole dish.

Top with cheddar. Bake 15-20 minutes. 

Nutritional Information (for half): 492 calories, 15.2 g fat (4.8 g sat), 9.5 g fiber, 28 g protein

As you can probably guess by the protein amount, this meal is very filling! This is in my top 3 meals because of taste, the serving size for the calories and how well it keeps me full. 

Plans for the weekend?? Heading out for my sister's wedding rehearsal. I can't believe the wedding is next weekend! This summer has just flown by. 

In other news, a fabulously delicious giveaway will be appearing on this blog very shortly! You want to stay tuned, I promise ;) Until next time...♥