This recipe was literally inspired by a picture on the back of the package of Gilbert's Craft Sausages Smoked Gouda Chicken Sausages and the produce I got from my local Farmer's Market. I had no idea when I saw the sausage how I was going to use them but they sounded yummy. It wasn't until I got them home that I saw an image of a pasta salad on the back and decided to use my local produce to create my own version! Now I share it with you!
NOTES
First things first, this is basically a dump pasta salad. You can use whatever you want. Want to use a different pasta? Go for it! I would stick with something like the bow tie, spiral, and the like instead of a noodle like spaghetti but if you go that route let me know!
Aside from measuring out half a box of pasta, using the whole container of feta and the whole pack of sausage, I didn't measure a thing! The asparagus was literally on it's last legs and needed to be used as was the squash and zucchini. I guessed at the sizes of the things I used.
Whatever dressing you decide to use, I would recommend it staying on the lighter side. Stay away from the thicker dressing like ranch, blue cheese, anything with the word "creamy" in the dressing name and stick with something that is like Italian or a vinaigrette. A balsamic vinaigrette would be yummy or keeping it simple with a little oil, vinegar, and some lemon juice would keep this nice and bright!
Leave out the sausage to make this vegetarian. Change the pasta to a vegan pasta (really good pasta and I almost used the box I have), leave out the feta, sausage and change dressing to a vinaigrette and you got a vegan dish.
A couple of things I realized AFTER I made this and ate it was that I mean to add pepperoncini's and chickpeas.
This is great as a meal or can be used as a side dish. This would be great at any cookout!
As always, if you make this recipe, please let me know how you like it in the comments below. I would love to know how you made this your own or if you kept it as is! If you share it on social media, please tag me @Myranda.McCaffreyNowak on IG, FB and TikTok!
