Confidence in the Kitchen: Sharing Cooking Experiences with Your Preschool Child

 

 

This is a tasty pasta dish that works well in summer when zucchini may be coming out your ears. However, ingredients are still readily available in winter. It’s hearty and pretty healthy too. It packs about 350 calories per serving (figuring the entire dish would serve 9). It’s not yet on my young cook’s hit parade, but I’m going to keep trying it.

 

Your young cook can help a lot in this dish just by seeding the peppers. Cut the top off, and then let those little hands dig into the pepper cavity and pull everything out. Then you can cut it all up for the recipe. They could also cut up the zucchini and yellow squash with their lettuce knives if you’re feeling brave.

 

Zucchini, Pepper and  Feta Pasta

   

 

2 1/2 cups uncooked ziti (short tube-shaped pasta)  

1 lb. chicken sausage  

2 medium thinly sliced zucchini  

1 red bell pepper  

1 orange bell pepper  

1 yellow bell pepper  

1 large onion, cut in half and then sliced  

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt  

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper  

3 garlic cloves, minced  

1/2 cup  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth  

2 teaspoon all-purpose flour  

3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese  

3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese  

 

 

 

1 Preheat oven to 400°.

2 Cook pasta in boiling water 7 minutes. (Note: you’re pre-cooking the pasta, it will cook more in the oven).

3 Prepare vegetables: slice zucchini and onions, cut peppers into large dice. Mince garlic or put through garlic press. Place all in a large bowl and set aside.

4 Slice sausage into discs. Add sausage to a large skillet sprayed with cooking spray; cook until browned. Remove from pan.

5 Spray pan again with cooking spray. Add zucchini, peppers, onion, salt, ground pepper, and garlic. Cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender and zucchini begins to brown, stirring occasionally.

6 Combine broth and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add broth mixture to pan; cook 1 minute.

7 Combine zucchini mixture, pasta, sausage, and feta cheese in a large bowl; toss well. Spoon pasta mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned.