This recipe was a happy mistake I didn’t know I made.

First, our Nephew for reasons I won’t get in to here, was put on a keto diet. I’m still not sure exactly what that is but to honor him I decided to make a keto friendly meal. So off to Google I went to find something yummy. I found this Turkey and Vegetable Pesto Bolognese. I’ll be honest, I didn’t read it very carefully. In fairness, the list of ingredients didn’t list any pasta. I made the assumption that the zucchini was spiralized instead of using pasta. After making this several times, I actually looked closer at the photo and realized it wasn’t spiralized vegetables, it was pasta. Well, I like this one better. 😀

We happen to have a spiralizer and love it. If you don’t have one, most grocery stores sell pre-spiralized zucchini in the produce section.

I use walnuts in the pesto for no other reason than they are cheaper and IMHO taste better than pine nuts. Also, the “hot” turkey Italian sausage we get isn’t very hot, so I added some crushed red pepper.

We eat most pasta with what my family has started calling “Rob’s Bread”. No real trick to it. Buy good bread, add a little extra olive oil than you think and season with salt and pepper. We like the Publix Tuscan Roasted Garlic Loaf or the Stecca from Swamp Rabbit Grocery. I either grill it on a grill pan over high heat until charred or put it on a sheet pan and pop it under the broiler for a few minutes on each side.

Ingredients

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1.5 lbs hot turkey Italian sausage, with casings removed
• 1 pinch crushed red pepper
• 1 cup onion, diced
• 2 cups sliced mushrooms
• 1 large zucchini, spiralized
• 1 large squash, spiralized
• 4 teaspoons minced garlic + 2 whole cloves
• 1-1/3 cup loosely packed basil leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2/3 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 4-5 tbsp raw walnuts

Directions

1. If you spiralize the vegetables yourself or are using store bought, you’ll want get as much liquid out as you can. Add the zucchini and squash “pasta” to a colander, season with salt and set in the sink. Leave for 10 minutes or so and rinse and dry the “noodles”.  Set aside.
2. In a food processor or blender add whole garlic, basil leaves, Pecorino Romano, walnuts and season with some salt and pepper. Pulse the mixture until combined. Turn the processor to a low setting and drizzle in the olive oil until you get the consistency you want. Reseason with salt and pepper if needed. Set aside.
3. Heat a large pot over medium-high heat. Coat the bottom with olive oil and add hot turkey Italian sausage. Break the sausage up and cook until browned and cooked through. Remove and set aside.
4. In the same pot, add the onion and cook until translucent. Add mushrooms and minced garlic. Cook until mushrooms are tender.
5. Cut the heat off and add the hot turkey Italian sausage back to the pot. Add a quarter of the pesto and toss to combine. Add the squash and zucchini “pasta” and again, toss to combine. Slowly add more pesto and continue to toss until everything is coated and the squash and zucchini “pasta” is slightly softened and warm.