Sunday, February 8, 2009

Tim Cooks: Pasta with Sausage, Basil and Mustard

Inspiration:
Whenever I have something in my freezer or pantry that I would like to use, but I don't have a recipe in mind, I head to the Food & Wine website. They have a search function where you can find recipes that utilize any ingredient. I always check the boxes for "staff favorite" and "fast" first. I have never made a bad "staff favorite" recipe-- they are always awesome!

Adapted from this recipe by Nigel Slater.

I had a work presentation the next morning, so Tim took over the cooking duties. He says it was really simple to make.


Ingredients:
  • 12 ounces short tubular pasta
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1.5 pounds bulk Italian sausage
  • 3/4 cup dry white wine (use stock if you do not consume alcohol)
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • 3 tablespoons grainy mustard
  • Pinch of crushed red pepper
  • 1 cup thinly sliced basil
  • Parmesan for garnish, if desired

Instructions:
  1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente; drain. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large, deep skillet. Add the sausage meat and brown over moderately high heat, about 5 minutes. Add the wine and simmer, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom, until reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Add the cream, mustard and crushed red pepper and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat, add the pasta and basil and toss to coat. Serve at once.

Notes:
This tastes vastly better than it looks. We had spicy bulk sausage, and this dish was SPICY. In a good way. I loved the combination of the spicy sausage, the strong mustard flavor, and the different textures. Do not use dried basil. I would not substitute turkey or chicken sausage in this dish; I think the rich pork flavor makes it special. I do not usually like leftovers, but I happily ate these leftovers 3 times. Loved it.


Liz's Rating: 10/10
Tim's Rating: 9/10

9 comments:

Hilary said...

This looks great for a cold night!

HaveShoesWillTravel said...

That looks really good and super easy.

weezermonkey said...

Ooh! Applause for Tim!

Pamela said...

Looks great!

Jo said...

Wow - must say this dish looks mighty tasty even from down here in Australia.

When you say "bulk" sausage is that just like the meat unformed into actual sausages? Hahaha some of your termanology is different to ours.

Must say - love your blog. I have been reading it for awhile now.

Take care,

Jo

Nancy/n.o.e said...

Ooh, I love pasta with spicy sausage. The mustard sound really interesting in there with the fresh basil. Good job, Tim!
Nancy

Liz said...

Hi Jo,

Yes, "bulk" sausage means it is not in links. You can always purchase regular sausage and remove the stuffing from the links.

Thanks for reading!

Liz

Jaime said...

I told Jim that Tim cooks and then asked why he didn't cook for me. He told me he was scared of screwing up. This amuses me since, if he can build a house, he should be able to cook a meal. I'm thinking that Valentine's day dinner should be a dual effort. That's romantic, right? Oh, that's after he takes me out the night before. ;)

Anonymous said...

This looks amazingly comforting and delicious!