Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce

Transcription

1 Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce TIP: The key to the full-on flavor of this recipe is using fresh ingredients: fresh garlic, fresh tomatoes, and a good handful of fresh basil. Preparation Time: minutes Cooking Time: minutes Ingredients (for 3-4) 1 Pound of Pasta 1 Pound of Chicken Sausage Olive Oil Italian Seasoning

2 Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce 2 Red Wine (optional but adds rich flavor) 4-5 Garlic Cloves 5-6 Roma Tomatoes (I like using Roma tomatoes because they are more meaty and less watery than other tomatoes, but any tomatoes will work for this recipe) Large Handful of Fresh Basil Grated or Shredded Cheese (I m using a combination of grated Parmesan cheese and feta cheese, but any favorite cheese will work) Ground Black Pepper Balsamic Vinegar (optional) Equipment Large Knife Cutting Board Medium-Sized (about 10-inch diameter) Frying Pan

3 Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce 3 Spatula (or Large Spoon) Medium-Sized (3-4 quart) Pot Colander Timer 1. Put a frying pan on the stove and turn on the burner to MEDIUM heat. 2. While the pan warms, which will take 5-7 minutes, pull 4-5 garlic cloves from a fresh garlic bulb.

4 Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce 4 garlic clove Put 1 garlic clove at a time on the cutting board under the flat side of wide bladed (chef s) knife, and use the heel of your hand to press down on the top flat side of the knife with enough pressure to break the garlic clove open to make peeling the garlic skin much easier. cover garlic clove press broken garlic skin

5 Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce 5 Peel the garlic skin. Cut the garlic into thin slices and then chop the garlic slices into smaller pieces until the chopped garlic looks about as shown in the third picture below. 3. Check the frying pan for the proper cooking temperature by wetting your fingers with tap water and flicking the water onto the pan surface.

6 Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce 6 The pan is warmed to the proper cooking temperature when the water sizzles on contact with the pan surface and quickly evaporates. (NOTE: If the water sizzles and evaporates in a puff as soon as it hits the pan, move the pan to a cool burner for a few minutes. Turn down the heat setting on the burner you originally used, and heat the pan again. If the water doesn t sizzle on contact, keep heating the pan until it does.) 4. When the pan is warmed to the proper cooking temperature, add about as much olive oil to the warmed pan as shown below, and then

7 Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce 7 squeeze the sausage meat out of the sausage casing into the pan as shown here. (NOTE: if the sausages you are using are firm, and the meat cannot be squeezed out of the casing, just cut the sausages into small bite-sized pieces, and add the sausage pieces to the hot pan.) Use a spatula to break up the sausage into smaller bite-sized pieces for easier cooking, and then add a good shake of Italian seasoning.

8 Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce 8 Turn the sausage pieces every 2-3 minutes and cook until the sausage meat is browned throughout as shown directly below. (In the meantime, start cooking the water for the pasta as shown in step 5.) sausage meat is uniformly brown safely cooked sausage meat If, however, your sausage meat looks as shown below: still pink in places and undercooked, keep turning and cooking the sausage meat and checking for doneness at 2-3 minute intervals until the sausage meat is cooked through as shown in the safely cooked sausage meat picture above.

9 Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce 9 sausage meat is partially pink unsafe, undercooked sausage meat 5. While the sausage meat cooks, fill a medium-sized pot about 2/3 s full with cold tap water. Put the pot on the stove, and turn on the burner to HIGH heat.

10 Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce While both the water cooks in the pot and the sausage meat cooks in the frying pan, prepare the tomatoes by first giving them a scrubbing rinse with cold running water. Cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise, cut each half again lengthwise into 2-3 slices, and cut the slices in cross section into 3-5 pieces.

11 Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce When the sausage meat is safely cooked, add an optional shot of red wine to the pan. Let the wine cook down (evaporate) for 1-2 minutes and then add the cut tomatoes and chopped garlic to the pan with the cooked sausage.

12 Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce Let the water come to a rapid, big bubble boil as shown in the full boil photo below, not just a small bubble, fizzy boil as shown in the NOT a full boil picture, to help ensure the pasta cooks properly to desired doneness. (NOTE: When the water does come to a full boil, you can add an optional 1/2 - teaspoon of salt to the water. Adding salt to the pasta water is not necessary for this recipe because there is already salt in the sausage and cheese used to make the recipe shown here.) big, rapid bubbles small, fizzy bubbles full boil NOT a full boil Add 1 pound of pasta to the boiling water and stir until all the pasta is submerged in the hot water.

13 Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce 13 Set a timer for the pasta cooking time suggested in the cooking directions on the pasta package according to desired doneness. NOTE: As pasta will continue to absorb moisture even after cooking, I set a timer for either the suggested al dente cooking time on the pasta package or 1 minute less than the recommended cooking time if al dente is not mentioned in the cooking directions. (Pasta package cooking directions example from Ronzoni brand thin spaghetti) Let the water come back to a full boil. Then turn down the burner heat to MEDIUM-HIGH to prevent the pot from boiling over, and keep cooking the pasta until the timer sounds.

14 Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce While the pasta cooks, add a good crunch of black pepper and stir the sausage sauce in the pan with a spatula. While the sausage sauce and pasta cook, prepare a large handful of fresh basil by first rinsing it well under running tap water (NOTE: Basil is sometimes grown in sandy soil, so be sure to give the leaves a thorough rinse).

15 Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce 15 Pinch the basil leaves from their stems, bunch up the leaves and cut them into strips about 1/4 inch (6 mm) wide. Finish by chopping those strips into flake-sized pieces about as shown below.

16 Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce Add and stir the freshly chopped basil into the sausage sauce and turn off the stove heat under the frying pan.

17 Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce Put a colander in the sink. When the timer sounds, give the pasta a quick stir, and carefully pour the pasta and hot water into the colander in the sink, and do not rinse with cold tap water. 12. Scoop pasta into a bowl or onto a plate, top with sausage sauce, and either have it as is or

18 Pasta with Fresh Chicken Sausage Sauce 18 add grated cheese (I m using 2 kinds of cheese here: grated Parmesan cheese and feta cheese) and/or a shot of balsamic vinegar and serve.