Zucchini Summer Squash Parmesan w/ Chicken Sausage

I had planned on making homemade gnocci for dinner tonight, but I had so much to do today that I didn't end up having the time to do it. I took a quick survey of what I had in the fridge, and all I had was some garlic flavored chicken sausage, zucchini, tomatoes, and summer squash. At first, I thought I was going to whip up some pizza dough and make some sort of squash/sausage pizza. Then I decided that I was kind of in the mood for pasta since our original plan had been gnocci. I didn't want to just steam the squash, so I decided to come up with my own little "squash parmesan" concoction. What started out as a completely unplanned meal ended up being absolutely delicious! This could also be prepared without the sausage for a vegetarian dish, for the us the sausage was an added bonus and it allowed us to use it before it went bad.

Zucchini & Summer Squash Parmesan w/ Chicken Sausage

Ingredients:

• 1lb Al Fresco Garlic Chicken Sausage, sliced
  
• 2 Summer Squash
• 2 Zucchini
• 1 Large Onion
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 2 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Pepper
• 1/2-1 Cup Italian Style Breadcrumbs (make your own using Italian Seasoning if you'd like!)
• 1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese
• 1 lb cooked pasta of your choice (we used penne)
• Pasta sauce of your choice
  

Directions:

In a large skillet, cook sliced chicken sausage and onions until sausage is browned on both sides and onions have slightly caramelized. Set sausage/onion mixture aside in a bowl. In the same skillet, add summer squash and zucchini, cook until squash beigns to soften. Add diced tomatoes to the skillet. Once the vegetables have cooked through, put them in the bottom of a 9x11 casserole dish. Top the vegetable layer with the sausage and onions. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle bread crumbs and parmesan evenly over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Serve over pasta with sauce.

**NOTE: An alternate way to doing this would be to dip the zucchini/summer squash in an egg mixture and then coat with breadcrumbs and line the bottom of the casserole dish - however I was out of eggs and this approach worked out good for me because the juice from the tomato helped the breadcrumbs stick to the veggies nicely.