Zoodles with Tomato Sauce and Sausage

20g CARB

Serves 6

Hands On 30 min.

Total 1 hr. 45 min.

• 4 lb. tomatoes, cored, halved, and seeded
• 1 red sweet pepper, halved and seeded
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 cup chopped sweet onion
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tbsp. white balsamic vinegar
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¾ tsp. black pepper
• ½ cup chopped fresh basil, Italian parsley, and/or oregano
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 3 3-oz. links fully cooked chicken sausage, bias-sliced
• 24 cups zucchini or yellow summer squash noodles (about 6 squash)

1. Preheat broiler. Lightly brush tomatoes and sweet pepper with 1 Tbsp. of the oil. Arrange half of the tomatoes and the pepper, cut sides down, in a 15×10-inch baking pan. Broil 5 to 6 inches from heat 8 to 10 minutes or until charred. Remove from pan; wrap pepper in foil. Repeat with the remaining tomatoes. Let tomatoes and pepper stand 20 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Peel off and discard skins. Chop tomatoes and pepper.

2. In a large saucepan heat the remaining 1 Tbsp. oil over medium. Add onion and garlic; cook 5 to 7 minutes or until onion is tender, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes, sweet pepper, vinegar, salt, and ¼ tsp. of the black pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, 20 to 30 minutes or until tomatoes have broken down and mixture is slightly thick, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Return to saucepan; heat through. Stir in herbs. Transfer half of the sauce to a freezer container, let cool, and freeze up to 3 months.

3. Meanwhile, coat a 12-inch nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Heat over medium. Add sausage; cook about 5 minutes or until golden, turning once. Stir into warm sauce.

4. To cook zoodles, coat the 12-inch skillet with cooking spray. Heat over medium-high. Add half of the zoodles; cook and toss with tongs 2 to 3 minutes or until tender. Sprinkle with ¼ tsp. of the black pepper. Repeat with remaining zoodles and black pepper. Serve sauce over hot zoodles.

Tip Use a spiralizer to cut zucchini into noodles or look for them already prepared in the produce aisle of your supermarket. You really do want 24 cups of zoodles because you will have half as much after cooking.

To Use Frozen Sauce Thaw sauce overnight in refrigerator. Reheat in a medium saucepan over medium-low until heated through. Use as desired.

PER SERVING (½ cup sauce + 2 cups zoodles each) cal 175, fat 7 g (2 g sat. fat), chol 30 mg, sodium 313 mg, carb 20 g (4 g fiber, 15 g sugars), pro 11 g