Pasta w/ Sausage & Mushrooms in Creamy Vodka Sauce

This evening I made a super simple, quick...AND delicious wheat free pasta dinner.  I used my little julienne peeler to make "spaghetti" with yellow summer squash.  I sauteed the "noodles" in Kerrygold Garlic Herb Butter to give them a little flavor (I usually use olive oil and a touch of sea salt). It only takes about 2-3 minutes to saute until al dente. The sauce was delicious and super duper simple. I had half a jar of DelGrosso's Vodka sauce in the fridge as well as some cooked crumbled Italian chicken sausage that I had reserved from last night's dinner. I sauteed about 1 cup of large fresh sliced mushrooms in a bit of olive oil, added the cooked sausage and then dumped the half jar of sauce in the pan, covered and turned to low to simmer for about 10-15 minutes. I opened the pan and continued simmering for about 5-10 minutes with the lid off so it would reduce a tiny bit and be thick (thick sauces work best on squash pasta so it doesn't make your dish watery). After it simmered uncovered for a bit, I added a couple splashes of heavy cream and stirred it in, then simmered a bit more.  I served the thick and luscious sauce over the garlic & herb buttered squash pasta...added a small side salad to the plate...and then popped a leftover biscuit I reheated on low in the microwave with a small pat of Kerrygold Garlic Herb Butter on top to melt in and "Italian-ize" the biscuit a bit!  BOOM...dinner was on the table in about 30 minutes with minimal effort since most of that time was simmering the sauce into a thick and creamy concoction. I snapped a few photos for you to see below. Life is sweet without wheat!  Enjoy!

P.S. -- Don't forget to enter my Swerve Giveaway for your chance to win a Weber Grill & 3 packages of Swerve (courtesy of Swerve).  Details are below (contest ends this Friday at midnight EDT).

      

2 days Left to Enter the Swerve Giveaway!

Contest ends Friday, September 6, 2013 at Midnight EDT (details below)

The kind folks at Swerve recently contacted me and have allowed me to offer Gourmet Girl Cooks' followers a chance to win an exciting "Celebration to Summer's End Giveaway"!  One lucky follower will win a:  Weber 22.5” Silver One-Touch, Kettle Grill AND a Three-Pack of Swerve (see below). As most of you that follow me already know, I have been using Swerve for almost a year now and it is my favorite "zero calorie" natural sweetener to bake with. It tastes great and measures cup-for-cup just like sugar, which makes it super easy to substitute in recipes...no calculations involved! It contains no artificial ingredients and comes in both granular and confectioners (powdered) versions. With the upcoming Labor Day weekend ahead, I will be posting some delicious "end of summer" recipes using Swerve...so stay tuned!  Ready, set....GO!  Begin entering now!

P.S.-- if you are already a Swerve lover like I am, and your supply is getting low...Swerve is currently running a special through Tuesday, September 3rd, for $9.99 each (for a 16-oz bag) or you can grab 6 packs of Swerve for $49.98 ($8.33/each + free shipping). You can click here to grab this special ---> Swerve

HOW TO ENTER:
The winning contestant will be chosen at random (must be a U.S. resident).  To enter a chance to win, all you need to do is: Leave a comment here on my blog and include the words "Swerve BBQ Contest" (1 entry per person per day).  Contest ends Friday, September 6, 2013 at Midnight EDT.  The winner will have 24 hours after being announced to contact Gourmet Girl Cooks (by email at GourmetGirlCooksBlog @ gmail.com) with their shipping address. If no response is received in 24 hours, a new winner will be selected.

*The product provided in this giveaway is contributed by and will be sent directly to the winner by Swerve.