jenny's north beach rigatoni

my sister-in-law jenny made this once for me and my husband. dave loves anything sausage, so it was a big hit. i've tried it a few times, and adjusted the recipe a little to suit my fancy. so let's get started.

you'll need a package of rigatoni, 1 zucchini squash, 1 onion, 1 green pepper, a package of Italian Sausage, 1 bottle of marinara sauce, salt, pepper, monterey jack cheese, and beef broth.see this kind of sausage? that's what i like. jenny uses the link kind, but after trying the recipe several times and it not working out, i switched to the tube kind. and, i'm trying to save money on groceries, so i only use half of the tube for this recipe, even though it calls for more.
squeeze your sausage into a pan
and over medium heat, brown it until it's no longer pink.
cut your onion into slices, and separate.do the same with the green pepper.how's your sausage coming? still pink? keep going then.

slice your zucchini. jenny cuts hers in regular slices, just like a cucumber slice would be, but i tried it like this last time i liked it because the bites were more....bite-size. first in half, then in fourths,
then like this.
sausage? browned? awesome.

remove it to a paper plate lined with paper towels to drain.then throw in your onions and green pepper--in the same pan you browned the sausage. yum.
see how good that looks? it smells even better. saute them until they're crisp-tender, whatever that means. isn't that an oxymoron? then deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup of dark red wine (or beef broth like me).

add the zucchini, mushrooms (i leave these out because dave hates mushrooms),
salt,
pepper,
marinara sauce,
and sausages. stir.

meanwhile, back at the ranch, boil some water for your rigatoni.
keep stirring your sauce. let it simmer for 12 minutes...just enough time for your pasta to cook.
now slice some monterey jack cheese,
drain your pasta and pour into your serving bowl.

immediately add the slices of cheese, right on top of the hot pasta.
until it's covered. like this.
now pour on the hot sauce...
and voila! let the hot sauce sit for a minute before serving to allow the cheese to melt.
serve with a side of garlic bread. or nothing at all. whatever.
enjoy!

jenny's north beach rigatoni

1 lb. italian sausage links (or a tube of it)
1 onion, cut and separated
1 medium green pepper, cut
1 zucchini squash, cut in slices
1/2 lb. mushrooms, cut in half
1/4 cup dark red wine (or beef broth)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
15 oz. marinara sauce
12 oz. package rigatoni
monterey jack cheese, cut in slices

brown whole sausages in 4 quart sauce pan until thoroughly cooked, about 45 minutes (or brown the tube of sausage like me in a matter of minutes). remove sausage, cool, and slice into 1/4 inch pieces (or skip this step if you do it like me). in drippings, saute onion and green pepper until crisp tender. deglaze the pan with 1/4 cup of dark red wine or beef broth, add zucchini, mushrooms, salt, pepper, marinara sauce, and sausage. simmer 12 minutes. cook rigatoni; drain and turn into large bowl. top pasta with cheese slices, then hot sauce. makes six 2-cup servings.