I had planned this recipe as a throw-together Sunday night dinner of pasta with store bought marinara and store bought Field Roast sausages (don’t worry, there were veggies too. But they stayed just as boring as I planned them.)
But then a moment of food-genius struck and I realized that with a couple extra tweaks I could turn this into a super special blog-worthy (but still way fast) meal. I am sooooo happy with the result.
Oh, man. DE-licious. It actually turned into an accidental remake of an old restaurant favorite of mine. So weird how that happens! At first taste, I was taken back to a favorite Italian restaurant in Pasadena called Carmine’s. I loved that place and had gone there for awhile, but was ordering myself takeout for a night in of studying as I bid all my friends goodnight as they headed out to a night out. One of my friends saw the takeout menu and said I had to try the gumbi. Gumbi? Yep, right there on the menu. So I gave it a shot, and I think from that day on I never ordered another thing from that restaurant until I went vegan. Gumbi was a super simple but delicious combo of baked pasta in a blush meat sauce. It seemed so simple, but whenever I tried to remake it, I couldn’t replicate it.
Years later, now I’ve done it by accident. Vegan.
Regardless of my flashback to gumbi, I think you’ll love this dish. It’s a great alternative to a throw-together pasta night, but with hardly any more effort.
serves 2
1/2 pound pasta
1 t safflower/vegetable oil
1/4 large yellow onion (or a shallot would be perfect)
1 Field Roast sausage (I used Italian)
1 C store-bought marinara sauce
1/4 t crushed red pepper
1/4 C vodka
1/4 C non-dairy creamer (I used coconut-based)
Boil a pot of water to cook your pasta. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and the onion and sauté until the onion is soft. Then add the Field Roast sausage, sliced or crumbled or whatever you like. I tore mine up with my fingers. Saute until the sausage browns a bit. Then pour in the marinara, red pepper, and vodka. Cook for several minutes to cook the vodka out (you can tell when you give it a taste.) Turn off the heat, stir in the creamer, and you’re done! Toss with your pasta.
Nutrition facts per serving: Calories: 423; Calories from Fat: 89; Total Fat: 9.9g; Saturated Fat: 0.9g; Sodium: 279mg; Total Carbohydrates: 46.8g; Dietary Fiber: 2.4g; Sugars: 4.9g; Protein: 19.7g
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