Sun-dried Tomatoes & Sausage Pasta

Pasta — one of many’s favorite but also one of many debates whether or not they are healthy for us. I’ll be honest, we eat pasta in our household at least once a week. We make them the Italian way or Asian fusion way. They are all my family’s favorite lunch or dinner meals.

Types of Pasta

We have a few more types of pastas these days (nutritionally speaking) than the traditional flour and egg pasta:

• gluten-free

• high protein made with beans or legumes

• high fiber made with whole grains or vegetables like zucchini

• vegan

Which one is the best?

There’s no single “best” pasta—just like there’s no one best protein or vegetable.

What matters more is asking yourself: How does my body respond to this? If your hormones feel off or you’re dealing with some insulin resistance, certain types or portions of pasta may work better for you than others.

At the end of the day, it’s not just about the pasta. It’s about the portion size, what you pair it with, and the overall balance of the meal—how much protein, fat, and sodium you’re adding. That’s what really determines the nutritional impact.

One thing to remember is everyone’s bodies is unique. If you have questions about which food is good, better or bad for you, schedule a session so I can give you guidance on what to do. Take the questions away and stop asking Chatgpt or Google AI what you should eat or should not eat because they will never know.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings

Sun-dried tomatoes

• 4 cups raw cherry tomatoes

• 3 Tbsp olive oil

• ½ tsp salt

• 1 tsp black pepper

• 2 Tbsp choice of dried herbs (parsley/basil/oregano)

Boiling pasta

• 3 cups dried pasta

• 6 cups water to boil pasta

Pasta dish

• 2 Tbsp olive/avocado oil

• 4 chicken sausage links (I used Amylu)

• 4-5 garlic cloves, minced

• 1-2 Tbsp chili flakes (depending on how hot you like it)

• ½ tsp salt

• 1 tsp black pepper

• 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

• ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions

1. Sun-dried tomatoes

Rinse your tomatoes under tap water. Halve all the sun-dried tomatoes and spread them on a baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil, salt, black pepper and any dried herbs you have. Briefly mix them (or not, if you are lazy like me) then air fry at 325’F for 40 minutes or bake in the oven at 325’F for 45-50 minutes. Check your oven at 45 minutes to make sure it is not burning. Every oven operates at slightly different heat so you’d often to experiment a little to know how long is good enough for these tomatoes. You want them shrunken and a little jammy.

2. Sausage

Thaw your sausages if they were frozen. Slice them to a thickness you like. I like cutting mine at an angle so they are slightly larger pieces. Lay them out on a baking sheet and air fry at 350’F for 6 minutes or bake them in the oven at 350’F for 7-8 minutes. When the edges start to brown some, without burning, they are good to go.

3. Boil pasta

Bring a pot of water to boil then add the raw pastas and cook per packaging’s instruction. Every pasta cooks slightly differently. You will cook them a little more in a pan so drain them about 1 minute earlier than what the packaging tells you so they stay perfectly al dente when everything’s cooked together.

4. Cook everything

Add olive oil or avocado oil to a pan with medium-high heat. Add minced garlic and sauté for about 2-3 minutes. Then, add chili flakes, salt, pepper, nutritional yeast and mix everything together. Now, add your baked/air fried sausage slices and your boiled pasta. Mix well and give it a taste. Season as needed.

5. Serve and enjoy!

When serving, top with freshly grated parmesan cheese, some freshly grounded black pepper, dried parsley for color and enjoy!

Dietitian Notes

Each serving: 550-600 cal | 60-65 g carb | 25 g protein | 25 g fat

Nutritional values are in ranges depending on how much oil, type/brand of sausage and pasta you use. Pastas are so versatile and delicious! Different ingredients used change the flavor profile significantly.

Tomatoes are packed with lycopene which is a type of carotenoid, and a strong antioxidant. Antioxidants help reduce oxidative stress which can lead to increased inflammation and cause damage to healthy cells. Lycopene is also an important nutrient for prostate health. If you have a gentleman at home to feed, adding tomatoes to their diet will help protect their prostate for a long time.

Tips & Variations

For this type of olive oil based pasta, I’d recommend these substitutes or addition of vegetables:

• bell peppers (bake or air fry ahead of time so they caramelize)

• mushrooms (button or wild)

• squashes (sliced and roasted first)

• spinach

• eggplant (sliced and roasted first)

• olives

• kale

• arugula

Protein variations:

• salmon

• sardines

• shrimp

• squid or any other seafood

• steak

• chicken

• tofu

• white beans

• pine nuts