Vegan Fusilli with Lentils, Sausage, & Peppers

Vegan Fusilli with Lentils, Sausage, & Peppers was made on a total whim, unplanned, yet totally amazing! It’s healthy, quick, easy, and delish. This is a broth based pasta with garlic and vegan parmesan cheese.

Okay, I’m gonna chat for a minute about vegan parm and vegan sausage. For this recipe (and for any recipe using parm), my go-to parm is Go Veggie! It is the best texture and flavor… or so I believe. I’ve just discovered a new wedge block parmesan as well… drum roll please… Violife Just Like Parmesan. I use this to grate parm atop my pastas and salads. I’ve tried the Smoked Provolone Slices as well and they’re absolutely incredible! To me, Lightlife Gimme Lean Sausage is the BEST! You can mold it into whatever shape, size etc you’d like. The flavor is awesome, aaannndd it’s not expensive. If you’ve never tried any of these vegan products, you should! You can click on the title of the product above to bring you directly to their pages. Lastly, what is your favorite vegan parm and vegan sausage? Let me know in the comments! Always looking to try something new.

Yesterday, I went to Trader Joe’s on my way home from a sleepover at my friend Mandi’s house. I had interviewed her for my podcast, “One More Sip of Whine.” Of course, we drank through the podcast (part of the process) and then continued forth with prosecco. She lives far out in Vancouver so as usual, I stayed overnight. Was amazing. You are never too old for sleepovers with your girlfriends. Honestly, I think it’s incredibly important to maintain that youthful friendship. It’s so healthy! Well, except for the booze. 😉 Anyway, hurting, on my way home, I stopped at TJ’s, threw a bunch of shit in my shopping cart, without any real thought, returned home and was like, “what the fuck is this?” So, I had to get creative. Hence the beautiful discovery of Vegan Fusilli with Lentils, Sausage, & Peppers. LOL. Better than pouring ranch dressing on pasta. Seriously. As in, no joke. Welcome to my impoverished days of living in the East Village of Manhattan. 😉 Those stories from those days deserve their on tab on top of this blog! Hhhmmm…

Anyway, chow down and enjoy this hangover delight! It won’t disappoint.

-FGG

PS- Loved this song back in the day!

Vegan Fusilli with Lentils, Sausage, & Peppers

Serves approximately 4-6

Ingredients:

1 lb fusilli pasta – cooked

3 Tbl butter (I love Earth Balance)

3-4 cups veggie broth (depends on your liking)

1 C parmesan (I used Go Veggie!)

2 cloves of garlic – diced

2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 Tbl dried oregano

Salt for peppers

8 leaves of fresh basil – chopped

2 C colored peppers – sliced thin (I use a combo of red, orange, & yellow)

2 C cooked lentils (I used 3/4 package of Trader Joe’s Steamed Lentils)

1/2 a package of Lightlife’s Gimme Lean Sausage – rolled into 1/2 inch balls

Optional: Violife Wedge Parm grated on top of individual bowls

Directions:

In a sauce pan, heat to low-med and add butter

Once melted add garlic and stir occasionally for approximately 1 minute

Add the peppers with salt, mix well, place lid on top of saucepan and let sit for 2-3 minutes

Add veggie sausage and mix well – put lid back on for 2 minutes

Remove lid and add lentils, onion and garlic powder, and oregano – mix well. Stir occasionally for about 3-5 minutes

Add veggie broth, parmesan, and basil , mix very well and place lid back on pan. Let cook for approximately 5 minutes and stir again. Place lid back on and let cook on low for an additional 5 minutes

Mix well and pour sauce over pasta. Done!

DISCLAIMER: Picture totally sucks. Had no intention of taking pics, especially at night (always shoot with the sun), however, I realized I am slacking on my food posts, and this pasta dish was too damn good not to post. 😉