Lemon Pasta with Roasted Veggies & Sausage

Another great recipe from EmLoves! I love making pasta, especially when its this yummy but also very healthy. This recipe allowed us to use more of our venison sausage. It was delicious and makes quite a bit too which of course means leftovers! Enjoy!

Lemon Pasta with Roasted Veggies & Sausage
from EmLoves

Ingredients:

• 1 lb pasta (I used penne)
• 2 large lemons, juiced
• zest from 1/2 of one large lemon
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped (I honestly used the parsley from my spice rack)
  
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium zucchinis, cut into 1/2 inch thick rounds
• 1 medium yellow squash, cut into 1/2 inch thick rounds
• 2 small heads broccoli, cut into florets (we had some frozen baby broccoli and it worked just fine)
  
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cups smoked sausage, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 4 cups fresh spinach leaves (mine ended up with more than 4 cups b/c when looking at the nutrition info, I noticed that it said 4 cups and failed to notice that it said 3 servings..mine probably had closer to 6-8ish cups by the time I realized my mistake...)
  
• Parmesan cheese, for topping
  

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine lemon juice, lemon zest, red pepper flakes, and parsley in a small bowl and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, toss broccoli florets, zucchini, and squash in 2 Tbsp olive oil and spread out on a large baking sheet.
4. Season veggies with 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp dried thyme. Roast veggies for 20-25 minutes.
5. While veggies are roasting, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions.
6. In a medium skillet, cook sausage and onion over medium high heat until onion starts to soften. Add garlic and continue to saute until onion is clear and sausage it cooked.
7. Add fresh spinach leaves to sausage mixture, turn the heat down to low, and stir until spinach starts to wilt. Remove from heat.
8. Drain pasta and, in a large bowl, combine pasta, sausage/spinach mixture, and roasted veggies.
9. Pour lemon juice mixture over the pasta and toss to combine.
10. Serve with fresh grated Parmesan cheese, crusty french bread, and extra lemon slices.