Sausage, Corn, and Basil Pasta recipe that might not be your usual pretty, perfectly styled blog post, but one that’s real and show you how to cook with what you have. Keep reading!
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I’m all about keeping it real with everyone, so here’s this delicious recipe made from items I had in my freezer. Sometimes, I feel like people forget the potential within our freezers, for preserving bits and pieces, odds and ends, that ultimately make a delicious meal. That’s exactly how this meal came about – with flavors of summer in October.
This past summer I found myself with an excess of local corn, a few local farm grape tomatoes, and basil that was brown and almost dead. I decided I would save these for a future meal this fall, and this week, we made this Sausage, Corn, and Basil Pasta recipe that warmed us from the inside out and gave us a taste of summer.
To make this, I had on hand:
- frozen summer corn that I had cut off the cob and frozen
- grape tomatoes that were frozen
- basil cubes that are just basil and water blended together and frozen in an ice cube tray
- frozen sausage
I like to keep it really simple. Yes, I could blend the basil with olive oil but I didn’t want to waste my oil on that, when water would work just as well and I could add oil afterwards if needed.
Note on plastic baggies: I have had all those bags for over two years, I just rinse, dry, and reuse them until they fall apart! Then I recycle with my soft plastics recycling. Do what you can, with what you have.
The sausage is crumbled and cooks in the pan first, and then I add the basil cubes, tomatoes and corn, for a light sauté. Then, I add the pasta. You can use whatever pasta you’d like.
So this is where it can go two ways:
- you can toss all of this together, drizzle with some olive oil and season with salt and pepper and call it a day;
- or you can add a splash of cream, season again with salt & pepper, and call it a day.
It all depends on what you want! Either way, it’s delicious!
Sausage, Corn, and Basil Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 sausage links your choice of flavor
- 1 cup corn kernels can be frozen, canned, or fresh
- 1 cup grape tomatoes fresh, canned, or frozen
- 3 cubes basil or 1/4 cup fresh basil
- 1 pound dried pasta cooked
- salt and pepper to taste
- optional: olive oil butter, or cream to finish the dish
- parmesan of course
Instructions
- In a large pan (I used my trusty cast iron), crumble your sausage into the pan. You don't need any fat because most sausages tend to have plenty of fat to get started with. Cook until crisp and delicious.
- Add corn, tomatoes, and basil cubes and cook until the corn has a little char on it.
- Toss in the cooked pasta and mix all together. Season with salt and pepper. You can also add red pepper flakes for spice!
- Now, here's the optional: you can finish this with a drizzle of good olive oil and call it a day. Or you can add a splash of heavy cream to make it into a creamy light pasta. Your call.
- To serve, all you need is a hefty amount of parmesan and serve with a side salad, and dinner is ready!
DID YOU TRY THIS RECIPE? I want to see it! Follow Cooking with Books on Instagram, take a photo, and tag me in it. I love to know what you are making and how you made this recipe your own!
This post may contain affiliate links that, at no additional cost to you, may earn me a small commission.