Sausage Penne Bake and Braised Young Root Vegetables

Braised Young Root Vegetables is quickly becoming my Tuesday night clean-out-the- fridge-in-prep-for-new produce standby. I've experimented each time I've made it with a different combination of vegetables and I've loved it every time. J even ate a little tonight and M at least wanted some on her plate (although she didn't eat any---she didn't eat a lot for supper though). Curtis commented that he never liked turnips until he ate this and I said the same about turnips and radishes. In the picture, the radishes are the vegetables with varying hints of colors (except obviously the carrots). Tonight I made this with carrots, a small kohlrabi, three smallish turnips, and a handful of radishes. Mmm! It was great. I could have just eaten this for supper instead of the main course. Click here for the recipe.

Main course was Sausage Penne Bake which whipped up pretty fast because I opened up a jar of my homemade pizza sauce to use instead of the diced tomatoes the recipe calls for. If you choose to use premade sauce, just stop adding the ingredients once you get to tomato paste through the diced tomatoes. Everyone enjoyed this. M was slightly dismayed to see that the pasta and sausage were mixed together, but she got over that. I didn't use enough sauce when I made this because I didn't read the recipe closely enough. It still tasted great, just not as saucy as it would have been had I done better at following directions.

Sausage Penne Bake
Cook 1 lb penne pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, heat 1 T olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 1/2 c chopped onion, 3/4 c diced red bell pepper, 12 oz basil and parmesan chicken sausage (0r other Italian seasoned chicken sausage) that has been halved and cut into 1/2" slices, and 2 cloves minced garlic. Saute 5 minutes or until sausage is browned. Add 1 T tomato paste, 1 T balsamic vinegar, 1/2 t salt, 1/4 t dried oregano, and 3 (14-oz) cans diced tomatoes (undrained). Cover, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. (If you use pre-made pasta sauce, simmer until you are ready to assemble the dish). Combine the pasta and the tomato mixture and spoon into a greased 13 x 9" greased baking dish. Sprinkle with 1 c shredded provolone or mozzarella cheese and 1 c grated Parmesan cheese. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 25 minutes or until bubbly.