Pasta with Sausage
Most of us associate pasta and sausage with a dense, heavy tomato sauce, the kind that is so Italian-American it is just about indigenous. Yet sausage can contribute to a relatively light, almost delicate pasta sauce, especially if it is used in small amounts. In fact, sausage is the ideal meat to use in a quick pasta sauce, because it is preseasoned and cooks almost instantly.
Recipe information
Yield
makes 4 to 6 servings
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Put the butter in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. As it melts, crumble the sausage meat into it, making the bits quite small, 1/2 inch or less in size. Add 1/2 cup of water and adjust the heat so that the mixture simmers gently.
Step 2
Cook the pasta until it is tender but not at all mushy. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta-cooking water.
Step 3
Drain the pasta and dress with the sauce, adding some of the reserved cooking liquid if necessary. Taste and add salt and pepper as necessary. Toss with the Parmigiano-Reggiano and serve.
Variations
Step 4
White Pasta with Sausage and Onions: Before adding the sausage, gently cook about 1 cup minced onion in the butter until it is translucent. Proceed as directed.
Step 5
Red Pasta with Sausage: Still far lighter than the pasta with sausage you’re expecting. Core, cut up, seed, and drain 5 to 6 plum tomatoes; they may be fresh or canned. Add them to the sauce along with the sausage.
Step 6
Add about 1 teaspoon minced garlic or a couple of tablespoons minced shallot to the butter as it melts.
Step 7
Toss in a handful of chopped fresh parsley or basil at the last moment or add about 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or minced fresh sage along with the sausage.
Step 8
Use red wine as the cooking liquid; its astringency offsets the sweet richness of butter and meat beautifully.
