Italian Sausage Veggie Skillet

September and the Jess anniversary is nine days away and I am twenty-six weeks pregnant with twins and September is September in all the ways it always is. The weight that settles in late August is here, as it always is, and I am carrying it alongside the other weight, which is different — the twin pregnancy is a physical experience that is also a form of carrying — and the two kinds of heaviness are not incompatible, it turns out.

I called Cathy this week, the week before, the way I always do. She said I sounded different this year. I said I am pregnant. She laughed — genuinely surprised, genuinely happy. She asked how far along. I said twenty-six weeks. She said twins. I said yes. She said Jess would have been completely insane about this. I said I know. She would have been at every appointment. She would have already named them. She would have thrown a shower that was too elaborate and too perfect and I would have cried at it. Cathy said yes. We were both quiet for a moment. Then she said: tell me about them. I told her what I know, which is not yet their faces or their personalities but the shapes of what they are already, the things the ultrasound shows and the things the movement tells me at 3 AM. Cathy said: Jess would have loved them. I said: she still will. I believe that. I have always believed something like that.

I made slow cooker white bean soup this week — the original, the one from January 2020 when everything was normal and I made it and said it was four meals for two people and that was the lesson. Now I am making it for four people who will exist by December, which is the version of the sentence that still surprises me every time I say it. The soup is the same. Everything else is building.

The white bean soup is its own story — it always has been — but on the nights when I need something faster, something I can stand over and watch come together in a single pan while I’m too tired to think about December or Jess or the enormity of any of it, this Italian sausage veggie skillet is what I reach for. It’s warm and it’s simple and it feeds the number of people I’m becoming responsible for, and some weeks that’s enough.

Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 30 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound Italian sausage (mild or hot), casings removed
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 medium yellow squash, halved lengthwise and sliced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
Salt and black pepper to taste
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Fresh basil for garnish

Instructions

Brown the sausage. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add Italian sausage, breaking it into crumbles with a wooden spoon. Cook until browned and cooked through, about 6–7 minutes. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Cook the aromatics. In the same skillet, add onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and stir for 30 seconds until fragrant.
Add the vegetables. Add zucchini, yellow squash, and red bell pepper to the skillet. Season with Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes if using, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5–6 minutes until vegetables are tender-crisp.
Combine everything. Return the sausage to the skillet. Add cherry tomatoes and toss everything together. Cook for 2–3 minutes until the tomatoes just begin to soften.
Finish and serve. Remove from heat. Top with freshly grated Parmesan and torn basil. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Italian Sausage Veggie Skillet — The Meal That Feeds What’s Building