Fresh Pea and Roasted Broccoli Pasta

After a long day, pasta is usually my go to dish. It's an easy dinner that can quickly become delicious with the addition of a few ingredients.

I was lucky enough to have some robusto cheese on hand, which has quickly become one of my favorites. It's a dutch cheese which blends nutty parmesan with cream gouda, and melts wonderfully, making it perfect for a quick pasta dish.

With spring officially here, the time for eating fresh peas has also arrived. And while fresh peas are always a delightful spring treat, frozen peas will do just fine in this recipe. The roasted vegetables in this pasta dish really make it shine. By the time the broccoli, onions and garlic have hung out long enough in the oven, they've developed a nice carmelization that makes this easy recipe seem like a gourmet meal.

I also used a vegetarian sausage substitute in this recipe, which can be left out of the recipe if meat-substitutes are not your thing. But the Field Roast Italian "Sausage" that I used in this pasta dish worked well with the crisp, oven cooked veggies.

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces linguine pasta
• 2/3 cup peas
• 1 cup broccoli florets, chopped
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup fresh grated robusta cheese (or two tablespoons gouda + two tablespoons parmesan)
• 4 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 vegetarian sausages, chopped crosswise
• salt and pepper (to taste)

1. Preheat oven to 415 °F. Place the broccoli, onion, and whole cloves in a baking dish, drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper, place in oven and bake for 25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, prepare pasta to package directions. In a separate pan, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add sliced veggie sausage to pan and cook until browned, about 6 minutes. Set aside.
3. In the last three minutes of pasta cooking, add peas to pasta and cover. Drain pasta and peas, set aside.
4. After removing veggies from oven, mince the roasted garlic, then stir all the roasted veggies and sausage in to the pasta and peas.
5. Stir in remaining olive oil and cheese to the pasta and peas. Add salt and pepper to taste. Top with additional cheese if desired.