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Ditali Pasta with Sweet Sausage:
Pasta is one of my favorite foods to cook and luckily my family loves it as well. Growing up in a Hispanic household our pasta dishes consisted of lasagna, macaroni salad (coditos), egg noodles (mostly in soups), pasta served with meat in a red tomato sauce and Dominican Spaghetti (that is a whole other recipe I will post in the future). I can honestly say about 99% of our pasta dishes were served with a side of white rice (that's why I'm a carb lover). I only really learned to appreciate other pasta dishes as I grew older and began going out to eat with my friends and exploring new foods. This opened up a whole new world of pasta for me I didn’t even know existed and I absolutely took it all in.
The pasta used in this recipe is widely used for soups such as sausage soup, Italian Wedding, and Pasta Fagioli. If you do not have Ditali pasta on hand, you can substitute it with ziti, penne, macaroni, rigatoni, just to name a few. What I love about it is that it is so versatile and there is an endless possibility of dishes you can create with pasta. It can satisfy the carb lovers, meat lovers, and veggies lovers because you can add whatever your favorite seafood, meats, veggies, and cheeses are. You can also cook it with pasta sauce (or gravy if that's what you call it), olive oil, butter, or creams. If you have pasta at home and leftover pantry items you don’t know what to do with, then get creative and experiment with a new pasta dish. You may surprise yourself, and your family as well. The possibilities are endless. Now let’s cook!
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Italian
Serving: 4
Ingredients:
Instructions:
1. In a large pot filled with lightly salted boiling water, add the pasta and cook according to package directions (I like to add some salt and a teaspoon of olive oil to the boiling water before I put the pasta in to cook).
2. Drain the pasta and set aside.
3. You can use the same pot to cook the sausage but wipe it clean after you remove the cooked pasta or you can cook the sausage in another pan. Heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the sausage (with the casing already removed) and cook until the meat begins to brown.
4. Add the garlic first, then onion, and sauté until lightly golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. (If you are going to add peas, you would add the peas now and stir in a cup of water). Season with salt and pepper to taste and add the Italian seasoning.
5. Lower heat from medium to low, cover and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the heavy cream and cook until reduced and sauce is thick in consistency. 4. Add pasta to the pot containing the sausage, add the grated cheese and toss well. Serve immediately.
6. Before serving you may add extra olive oil and grated cheese to your taste.
Pasta is one of my favorite foods to cook and luckily my family loves it as well. Growing up in a Hispanic household our pasta dishes consisted of lasagna, macaroni salad (coditos), egg noodles (mostly in soups), pasta served with meat in a red tomato sauce and Dominican Spaghetti (that is a whole other recipe I will post in the future). I can honestly say about 99% of our pasta dishes were served with a side of white rice (that's why I'm a carb lover). I only really learned to appreciate other pasta dishes as I grew older and began going out to eat with my friends and exploring new foods. This opened up a whole new world of pasta for me I didn’t even know existed and I absolutely took it all in.
The pasta used in this recipe is widely used for soups such as sausage soup, Italian Wedding, and Pasta Fagioli. If you do not have Ditali pasta on hand, you can substitute it with ziti, penne, macaroni, rigatoni, just to name a few. What I love about it is that it is so versatile and there is an endless possibility of dishes you can create with pasta. It can satisfy the carb lovers, meat lovers, and veggies lovers because you can add whatever your favorite seafood, meats, veggies, and cheeses are. You can also cook it with pasta sauce (or gravy if that's what you call it), olive oil, butter, or creams. If you have pasta at home and leftover pantry items you don’t know what to do with, then get creative and experiment with a new pasta dish. You may surprise yourself, and your family as well. The possibilities are endless. Now let’s cook!
Course: Dinner
Cuisine: Italian
Serving: 4
Ingredients:
- 1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 1-2 garlic cloves, finely sliced or minced
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casing removed, cut as much as possible
- 1 pound Ditali pasta
- ½ cup heavy cream (recipe can be made without it, but the consistency will not be as thick)
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano (or your favorite grated cheese)
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- Optional:
- 1 pound of peas (fresh or frozen)
- 1 cup of water (if you add the peas to recipe)
- 1 cup of any grated cheese for extra topping (Romano, Parmigiano, Asiago)
Instructions:
1. In a large pot filled with lightly salted boiling water, add the pasta and cook according to package directions (I like to add some salt and a teaspoon of olive oil to the boiling water before I put the pasta in to cook).
2. Drain the pasta and set aside.
3. You can use the same pot to cook the sausage but wipe it clean after you remove the cooked pasta or you can cook the sausage in another pan. Heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add the sausage (with the casing already removed) and cook until the meat begins to brown.
4. Add the garlic first, then onion, and sauté until lightly golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes. (If you are going to add peas, you would add the peas now and stir in a cup of water). Season with salt and pepper to taste and add the Italian seasoning.
5. Lower heat from medium to low, cover and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the heavy cream and cook until reduced and sauce is thick in consistency. 4. Add pasta to the pot containing the sausage, add the grated cheese and toss well. Serve immediately.
6. Before serving you may add extra olive oil and grated cheese to your taste.