Spicy Sausage Pasta

Whenever the weather cools down, I crave spicy foods.  Today I wanted nothing more than to eat some "Rasta Pasta" from Buzzard Billy's, but I was not in the mood to drive, so I thought I'd make it myself.  The only problem was, I didn't have most of the ingredients I needed on hand, so I made up this spicy pasta instead.

1 package rotini pasta
1 small bag of frozen broccoli
4 spicy sausages (I used jalapeño cheese brats from HyVee)
2 tsp oil (I actually used some bacon grease I had saved)
1 Tbs minced garlic
1 Tbs cornstarch
1 cup chicken broth
2 cups shredded Pepper Jack cheese
1 tsp cayenne Pepper

Bring 4 quarts water to a boil, add uncooked pasta.  Boil for 4 minutes, add broccoli.  Boil for another 4 minutes.  Drain.  Return to pot.
Meanwhile, slice sausages into small pieces.  Add oil to a pan and cook sausages and garlic until browned.  Add cornstarch and stir constantly for 2 minutes.  Slowly add chicken broth and stir until thickened.  Reduce heat and stir in cayenne pepper and the shredded cheese.  Once the cheese has completely melted, pour sauce over the pasta and broccoli.
Now, at this point you could stop and enjoy. OR you could go one step more and put the pasta into a baking dish, top it with 2 more cups of pepper jack cheese and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Very Veggie Burgers

Autumn's Very Veggie Burgers

I tried an amazing veggie burger at Lazlo's a few weeks ago and I can't seem to get it out of my mind.  I loved that I could see the vegetables in the burger and it was held together with cheese.  I am not a vegetarian and I generally don't like veggie burgers that pretend to be meat.  I like veggie burgers that taste like vegetables and goodness.

1 small red onion
1 stalk of celery
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 small zucchini
1 small yellow squash
3 eggs
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded pepper jack
1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup flax seeds (why not?)
2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
Sriracha sauce (optional)
Oil to cook burgers

First, finally chop the vegetables. I just used the vegetables I had on hand, but this recipe would be good with others.  I'm thinking carrots or sweet potatoes would be good too.

 
Sweat the vegetables until they are translucent.

Add remaining ingredients (except oil) and mix well.  I did half of my burgers with sriracha and half without.  The mixture will be pretty sticky.  Forming patties by hand was difficult.  I actually found it was easier to spoon it into the pan and then form it with my wooden spoon.

Heat oil in a pan on medium-high heat.  I started with olive oil and switched to an olive/corn blend because it tolerated the high heat I wanted.  Cook patties 3-4 minutes on each side, or until brown and firm.

Though not the same as the burger I had at Lazlo's, these turned out delicious.  You can really taste the vegetables and cheese, which is what I was going for.

I ate the sriracha veggie burger on pita with red pepper hummus.  Yummmmm!