Summer Pasta w/ Italian Sausage

Each week at The Farmstead, we create a recipe using meat from our family farm and seasonal ingredients from the farmers and food makers we know. Farmstead Meals offer simple instructions, practical cooking tips, and a closer connection to the people behind your food.

Italian sausage, summer peppers, and zucchini come together with radiatori pasta and a simple San Marzano tomato sauce. It’s an easy skillet meal built around what’s abundant this time of year, with plenty of room to adjust it to what you have.

Farmstead Meal #006
Serves: 4
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: About 25 minutes

Ingredients

From The Farmstead

• 1 lb Jake’s Country Meats Italian Sausage, Regular, Sweet, or Hot
• 2 Piedt Acres Bell Peppers
• 1 Piedt Acres Zucchini
• West Michigan Pasta & Provisions Radiatori
• West Michigan Pasta & Provisions San Marzano Tomato Sauce
• Maple Row Sourdough, for serving
• J2K CAPRAIO Fresh Feta, optional, for serving

From Your Pantry or Garden

• Salt
• Olive oil

Directions

1. Prep the Vegetables

Remove the stems and seeds from the peppers and slice them into strips. Trim the zucchini, halve it lengthwise, and slice into half-moons.

2. Cook the Pasta

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook the radiatori according to the package directions.

Before draining, reserve 1 cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta and set it aside.

3. Brown the Sausage

While the pasta cooks, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the Italian sausage and cook, breaking it into bite-sized pieces as it browns.

4. Add the Vegetables

Add the peppers and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the zucchini and continue cooking for another 3–4 minutes. Add a little olive oil if the skillet seems dry.

5. Add the Sauce

Stir in the San Marzano Tomato Sauce and simmer for 5–10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender and the sausage is fully cooked.

Add the drained radiatori and toss everything together. Add the reserved pasta water a splash at a time until the sauce loosens enough to coat the pasta well. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.

6. Serve

Serve hot with sliced Maple Row Sourdough and optional J2K CAPRAIO Fresh Feta. Spoon a little feta and its oil onto the plate for dipping the bread, scooping onto the pasta, or both.

Farmstead Tip

Save that pasta water! A splash helps the sauce cling to the noodles. Start with a little and add more as you toss.

Choose Your Sausage

Regular, Sweet, or Hot Italian Sausage all work here. Regular keeps things savory and familiar. Sweet works especially well with ripe summer peppers and tomato sauce. Hot gives the whole skillet a little more kick.

Pick the one your family likes best. The rest of the recipe stays the same.

Make It Work with What You Have

This is the kind of pasta that should change with the season. Add another pepper, use yellow squash instead of zucchini, or toss in tomatoes, greens, or another vegetable that needs to be used.

Radiatori works especially well because all those ridges catch the sausage and sauce, but another short pasta will work too.

Made Possible by Local Producers

• Piedt Acres: Bell peppers and zucchini
• West Michigan Pasta & Provisions: Radiatori and San Marzano Tomato Sauce
• Maple Row: Sourdough
• J2K CAPRAIO: Fresh Feta

These are the producers featured in our original Farmstead Meal. Availability changes with the season, so use what’s fresh near you.

About The Farmstead

The Farmstead by Jake’s Country Meats brings together meat from our family farm and food from neighboring farms, fisheries, and local makers. It’s a place to know where your food comes from, meet the people behind it, and find simple ways to enjoy what’s in season.

Through good food and shared recipes, we’re building a stronger local food system, one meal at a time.

Visit us at 57470 M-51 S, Dowagiac, MI, just south of town.