Hello! I am back in the kitchen after what has been a bit of a necessary hiatus. I cooked my first ever turkey for Easter (more on that later), and then we basically survived off of leftovers for a week, so there wasn't any real need for me to be cooking.
Anyhoo ... today was my first time doing real cooking at the place where I'm house-sitting (as opposed to reheating food other people have cooked), and let me tell you, I don't particularly enjoy using someone else's kitchen. Well, that's not entirely true. This kitchen is beautiful and has a ton of counter space. What I dislike is not being able to find anything when I need it!! So annoying. Ah well. I am pretty well acquainted with their organizational scheme now, having rifled through every single drawer and cupboard several times over the course of cooking this one meal.
I digress. I adlibbed with this recipe a lot because, well, it's pasta and you can do that. But mostly because I forgot to buy some of the ingredients. Regardless, it was DELICIOUS. And I've never done much cooking with Italian sausage, so I found the flavor delightfully different than my usual fare. Yum, yum, yum.
First step? Brown some spicy Italian sausage meat in a skillet. No need to add oil, unless you buy super extra lean sausages. Since I find the idea of un-casing sausages and crumbling the meat myself repulsive, I just bought a tray of Italian sausage meat. Sausage casing = gross. Anyways, once the meat is just browned, add in some fresh chopped garlic and yellow bell pepper.
Then throw some diced tomatoes and chicken broth in the pan, along with whatever spices you like. Depending on the spicyness level of the sausage you use, you'll want to adjust your spices as necessary.
The finishing touch? Add in some whipping cream! I'm sure regular ol' heavy cream would work as well, but since I had leftover whipping cream from Easter, that worked out perfect. Depending on how creamy you like your pasta, you can adjust the amount of cream you add.
Pour the sauce over cooked pasta and mix together. Layer half the pasta in a baking dish, top with shredded cheese, pour on the rest of the pasta, and top with more cheese. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.
Here's the full recipe (which, shockingly, is from The Guy Can't Cook by Cinda Chavich)
Baked Fusilli with Spicy Sausage and Creamy Tomato Sauce*
Ingredients:
1 lb (500g) spicy Italian sausages, casings removed, crumbled
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into slivers
1 lb (500g) cherry tomatoes, halved (or one 796 mL can diced tomatoes)
1 cup chicken or beef broth
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 lb (500g) fusilli (or other short pasta - rigatoni, penne, etc)
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, slivered (I didn't have any of these, so I didn't add them -- still delicious though)
freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish
Directions:
1. Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat and add the crumbled sausage. Saute for 5-10 minutes or until it begins to brown. Add a splash of olive oil if the sausage is very lean. Add the garlic and bell pepper to the pan and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in the cherry tomatoes and cook 1 minute longer. Add the broth and stir up any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes or until the broth has reduced by half. Reduce heat to low and simmer. Slowly add the whipping cream and simmer until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
2. Meanwhile, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and mix with the sauce. Stir in the basil.
3. Rub a 9x13 inch baking dish with olive oil. Pour half of the pasta into the dish. Combine the two cheeses. Scatter half of the cheese mixture over the pasta, then fill the dish with the remaining pasta and top with the remaining cheese. Bake at 375 F for 20-30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and browned on top.
Serves 6.
*Note: the original recipe called for rigatoni, not fusilli, but fusilli is my favourite, so I switched it.
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