SAUSAGE, TOMATOES, W ARUGULA PESTO 7-2

I spent all day working out this recipe...and it was worth every minute of it! I even shunned the food processor and ground out my own pesto. As always I did not measure anything. You have to prepare this once intuitively, and then make adjustments as needed. The next time I make it I'll use more pesto.



INGREDIENTS:

Italian sausage cut into bite sized pieces
Grape tomatoes halved and quartered
Olive oil
Garlic
Arugula, chopped
Pine nuts
Parmesan cheese
Red wine
Mozzarella cheese cut into small pieces

PROCESS:

Grind the arugula, pine nuts,garlic, and cheese with olive oil in a mortar and pestle until paste like, and set aside.



Brown the sausage over high heat, remove, and set aside. Deglaze pan w red wine if needed, lower heat and add garlic and tomatoes and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the sausage and cook until sausage is cooked through.

Add the pasta to the pan then add the arugula pesto and the mozzarella cheese plus some pasta water.



COMMENTS:

Of course I loved it...as did Patience. This is not the time for false modesty. It was scrumptious! OK...I will admit that I would like cardboard it it was served with sausage. But seriously, this dish is worth the effort.

PASTA QUEST…JUNE 24 SAUSAGE, ZUCCHINI, BEANS

Farfalle wirh sausage, Cannellini beans, and zucchini. 6-24



INGREDIENTS;

Farfalle (bowties)
One zucchini cut into small pieces
Fresh Basil and Thyme
Italian sausage…out of the casing
One can of Cannellini beans
Red pepper flakes
Garlic, olive oil, and green onion

PROCESS;

Brown the sausage and remove. Saute the garlic and green onion with red pepper flakes, then add the beans and cook for about 5 minutes before adding the Basil and the sausage and simmer.

Add the pasta when it is ready, mix, and serve. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

COMMENTS;

I don’t know it it is the sausage, the beans, ot the combination of the two, but this dish has a low brow, peasant, soul food kind of feeling and taste to me. Patience says it’s all in my head. Whatever….it is delicious! And it it so easy to prepare. It doesn’t take much of an imagination to come up with a number of variations and possibilities for this meal.


FYI...this is the 35th pasta dish I've prepared since we started in the beginning of May. There are still so many more dishes to explore!

PASTA QUEST DAY...week 4...DAY 22 Sunday Pasta

It's Sunday...and that means Sunday's gravy. Today I used sausage instead of chicken or pork neck bones. The recipe/process is essentially the same, just substitute sausage for the other meats. (see posts on 5/8 and 5/ 22) Life long habits are hard to break, although this is one I have no desire to change.





This is the end of the fourth week of the Pasta Quest and I have to say that I am not tiring of the exercise. However there will be a break in the action when I leave for a trip back home next week. Fortunately since I will be visiting family in New Jersey and Philadelphia there will be no shortage of pasta in my diet.

PASTA QUEST DAY...week 3...DAY 15

This is one of my creations...like all the others there is nothing fancy about it except the taste!



Penne pasta w zucchini, sausage, celery.

INGREDIENTS:

Pasta
Loose sausage
Zucchini, cut into small pieces
Celery, chopped
Garlic, chopped
Onion
Tomato paste, 2 tablespoons
Olive oil
Ciabatta bread cut into crouton size pieces

PROCESS:

Cooke the sausage and remove from pan. Deglaze pan with wine if needed, add olive oil and 1 pad of butter and cook the bread until golden brown and remove. Add more oil and cook the onions and garlic along with 1 tablespoon of tomato paste until soft. Then add the zucchini , celery, and sausage, along with a splash of white wine and cook. Add the pasta and mix well then top with the croutons and grated cheese…we used Romano tonight.

Add the pasta and mix. Salt and pepper to taste.

COMMENTS:

Patience gave it a 10, after all, it is my birthday. I’ll give it a nine and a half. I don’t think I would change anything when I make it again.

I forgot to mention…salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and Basil.

AGLIO OLIO CRUDO

A Perfect Pair Clay mono type 14x8

No, I'm not calling anyone a nasty name in Italian. I'm hosting a small dinner party tonight, and two of the guests own and operate their own restaurants in Paducah, both well known for their great food! You gotta wonder...am I crazy to think that I can serve anything that will impress them? But I have two things working in my favor. First, I know that all of my guests are VERY fond of eating, and second, I will serve them Aglio olio crudo!

Aglio olio crudo is a remarkably simple but elegant pasta dish. The ingredients consist of pasta (linguine, spaghetti, or angel hair are my preferences), several cloves of finely chopped garlic, olive oil, finely chopped fresh parsley, and 1 or 2 pads of butter (optional).

Preparation is even simpler. Remove the cooked past to a large serving dish and drizzle with the olive oil, about 1/3 to 1/2 a cup. Add some of the pasta water to provide some liquid and mix in the raw (crudo) garlic and parsley, tossing it well, adding butter if desired). Drizzle once more with olive oil and serve immediately. The amount of the specific ingredients is a judgment call that becomes easy to make after preparing this dish one or more times.

There will be a second course of course: Sausage cooked with portobello mushrooms in white wine and onions, and broccoli rabe sauteed in olive oil with garlic. I'll post these "recipes" another time.

For a bit of color I'll add some sliced raw tomatoes (E Coli free) and of course the chianti.

My fingers are crossed. Wish me well.