Linguine with baby heirloom tomatoes, fennel and chorizo sausage

My friend Jaki and I created this recipe a couple of days after visiting the farmers market and we had some beautiful baby heirloom tomatoes leftover. Yes, I know that’s hard to believe because these tomatoes are perfect to snack on all on their own, but we decided to cook with them. I must say, this recipe turned out well and is easy to make. It can easily be converted to a vegetarian version by omitting the sausage and adding chick peas, which go really well in tomato sauces. We enjoyed it with a green salad and a glass of wine!

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

190 grams of whole wheat linguine (1/2 375 gram package)
1 tbsp canola oil
1 chorizo sausage, sliced cross wise
½ medium yellow onion, sliced
½ medium fennel bulb, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, chopped finely
1 medium zucchini, slice lengthwise and cut into ½ inch pieces
½ red or yellow bell pepper, sliced
½ pint of colourful baby heirloom tomatoes, cut in half
1-398 ml can whole plum tomatoes
1/2 tsp fennel seed
¼ cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
¼ cup fresh Italian parsley, roughly chopped
¼ tsp freshly ground pepper
Salt to taste

Directions

Cook linguine according to instructions on the package.

Meanwhile, in a large sauté pan, heat oil on medium and add sausage. Cook until lightly browned on each side, remove from pan and set aside. Remove excess oil from pan, leaving just enough to lightly coat the pan and return to heat.

Add onion and fennel and cook until they begin to soften. Add garlic and fennel seed cook for 1 minute, and then add baby heirloom tomatoes, zucchini and bell pepper. Cook for 5 more minutes. Add can of tomatoes with juices, breaking tomatoes apart with your hands as you are adding them. Add sausage to sauce, and simmer over low heat until sauce begins to thicken, about 10 minutes. Add linguine and gently toss to coat pasta with the sauce. Just before serving, add the fresh basil and parsley, and season with pepper and salt to taste.

* I don't add any salt throughout the cooking because the sausage is salty, and once it's added back into the sauce, it seasons the sauce quite well. If you're making a vegetarian version of this recipe, you may need to add salt to taste.