Bethany's Vegan Kitchen

Vegan sausage, spinach and penne in a herby tomato sauce. This is something I make quite often, so I thought I’d share it here. I live in Kent, and some of my family live in Wales, so I usually make this for my partner and I to eat while travelling to visit them. It’s perfect for a packed lunch, or you could serve this at a picnic or as a side dish at a barbecue

Yield; Two large (529kcal) or a four small servings (265kcal) Cook time; 20 minutes

You’ll need;

1. One teaspoon of oil
2. One clove of garlic, minced
3. One red pepper, chopped
4. 150g/5oz mushrooms, chopped
5. One tablespoon of tomato puree
6. Half a 400g/14oz tin of chopped tomatoes, blended until smooth
7. Half a teaspoon of both dried basil and dried oregano
8. Four vegan sausages, cooked and sliced into fairly thick pieces
9. One handful of baby spinach leaves, torn into pieces
10. 150g/5oz (dry weight)  pasta

Method;

• Heat the oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add in the garlic and cook for one minute, next add in the pepper and mushroom. Cover with a lid and leave to cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally
• To cut down the cooking time to 20 minutes, boil your pasta (as per the instructions on the packet) while you’re making the sauce
• Back to the sauce, add the tomato puree and cook for a couple of minutes before adding in the chopped tomato and herbs. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, then cover again and leave to cook for a further 10 minutes
• Then add the spinach and stir well to combine. Lastly remove from the heat and allow to cool a little
• Once the pasta is cooked, drain and rinse with cold water, this will stop the cooking process. Once the pasta is cool, drain again and add it into sauce along with the cooked sausage (you can cook the sausages while the pasta and sauce are cooking) and give everything a good stir to ensure everything gets coated with sauce
• Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve