These Pesto and Sausage foil packs are one of our favorite campfire dinners, complete with chicken sausage, corn on the cob, green beans, red potatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, and pesto! This recipe is perfect for the campfire, grill, or oven.
PREP: If you are using the oven, preheat it to 425 degrees F. If grilling, prepare the grill by heating to medium-high heat (425-450 degrees F.)Tear off four sheets of heavy duty foil and lightly spritz with cooking spray. If you aren't going to be doing this meal in foil packs, line a large sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
PREPVEGGIES: Cut the chicken sausage into coins. Cut the baby red potatoes into 4-6 pieces depending on the size; you want small bite-sized pieces. Trim the green beans and cut in half. Cut the corn off the cob. Add the sausage, potatoes, beans, and corn to a large bowl.
SEASON: Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of oil (from the oil packed sun-dried tomatoes jar) and all of the seasonings (paprika, dried parsley, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper). Add salt and pepper to personal preference; I add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Toss everything together until well combined.
DIVIDE: Divide the mixture evenly among the four prepared sheets of foil. Cut the butter into 1 tablespoon pieces and cut each tablespoon piece into 4 smaller pieces. Add the pieces of butter to the foil packs (1 tablespoon per foil pack). Seal the foil packs tightly so no air escapes, but do not double wrap foil (only one sheet of foil per pack or the cook time will be off). To seal the foil packet, bring the short sides together in the middle and gently fold down to completely seal. Then, roll up the ends.
COOK: Grill for 20-25 minutes or until veggies have reached desired tenderness (flip the foil packs at the halfway point; I flip at 10 minutes) Bake foil packs: add foil packs to a sheet pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until veggies are fork tender. See Note 1 for other cooking methods.
GARNISH: Carefully open the foil pack, expecting steam to be released. Add in the sun-dried tomatoes to each foil pack -- 2 tablespoons of tomatoes per packet. Spoon over basil pesto to preference (we like 2-3 tablespoons per packet). If desired, top with fresh basil and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Notes
Note 1:The actual heat on stovetops, ovens, grills, and campfires varies greatly, but I have tested this recipe using all four methods and am sharing the timing I found to be perfect. Time can also vary depending on actual size of veggies, so my best advice would be to check just one packet at a time. Remember, every-time you open a packet to check, it releases all the steam and will take an extra couple of minutes in comparison to the other packets cooking.
Stovetop (no foil): Place the entire mixture into a large Dutch oven (or half of the mixture into a large skillet) over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally until the veggies are crisp tender (about 12-15 minutes) adding in additional olive oil as needed. Lower the heat if anything is burning or browning too much. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes after removing from the heat and then drizzle pesto on individual serving plates.
Oven (no foil): Line an extra-large sheet pan (15 x 21 inches) with parchment paper. Pour the entire mixture over it and bake at 425 degrees F for about 30-35 minutes, flipping the ingredients around once at the halfway mark. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes and then drizzle pesto on individual serving plates.
Oven (foil packs): Divide the mixture evenly onto four sheets of heavy duty foil and wrap them so the foil is completely sealed. Place the foil-wrapped packets on a sheet pan and bake for 30-40 minutes. The time really depends on your preference — at 30-35 minutes everything should be crisp tender and cooked through. For very soft veggies, leave them in 38-40 minutes. Add sun-dried tomatoes to individual foil packs and drizzle pesto on each individual serving.
Grill (foil packs): Divide the mixture evenly onto four sheets of heavy duty foil and wrap them so the foil is completely sealed. Place over a pre-heated grill (medium-high heat; ~450 degrees) and grill for 20-25 minutes. Flip once in between the grilling process. Add sun-dried tomatoes to individual foil packs and drizzle pesto on each individual serving.
Campfire (in foil packs): Divide the mixture evenly onto four sheets of heavy duty foil and wrap them so the foil is completely sealed. Cook foil packs in the hot coals of a campfire until the potatoes are tender, around 20-40 minutes, flipping every 5 minutes, depending on the heat of the coals. We found these cooked up in about 20 minutes with hot coals. Add sun-dried tomatoes to individual foil packs and drizzle pesto on each individual serving.