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Tagliatelle with Hot Italian Sausage
Filed under Dinner, Italian

Tagliatelle with Italian Sausage

A hearty, cream-sauce pasta with hot Italian sausage and loaded with chunky pieces of vegetables is a nice way to warm up on a cold winter night. Tagliatelle, the long, flat pasta that is usually available only fresh in your local grocers pasta section (tough to dry out the long strands, I would think), is perfect for this dish – the smooth, silky pasta complements the rougher edges of the other ingredients.

I usually find a delicious hot Italian sausage at the grocers on sale;  they freeze beautifully and are actually easier to cut up when partially thawed, so they can be cooked up ahead on the night we make the pasta.  We usually throw in some halved baby bella mushrooms along with the onions and the red peppers, but any other mushroom will work well as long as you leave the pieces fairly big – you definitely want to feel the texture of the large pieces in the sauce. I use a little cayenne pepper to add a little heat; you can certainly omit if you want a subtler sauce. Garnish with some fresh parmesan cheese, add in a nice, full-bodied French red wine, and you are set for the evening!

THE RECIPE: Tagliatelle with Hot Italian Sausage

YOU’LL NEED:

  • 1 packet fresh tagliatelle pasta
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 red bell pepper, cubed into big chunks
  • 1/2 cup baby bella mushrooms, halved
  • 1/2 pint cream
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, plus a little extra for garnish
  • 2 tbslp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1tsp cayenne pepper
  • Salt and pepper to taste

THE METHOD:

THE PASTA:

  • Follow packet instructions, bringing the required amount of water to a boil
  • Before putting pasta in the boiling water, ensure you salt the water well
  • Fresh pasta cooks up pretty quickly, in a couple of mins – so time this step to ensure the pasta is done around the same time as the sauce.

THE SAUCE:

  • With saucepan on medium heat, add in the oil
  • If using uncooked sausage, add in the cut up pieces and fry till browned. If using pre-cooked, add when adding the veggies two steps down.
  • Add onions and saute for 2 mins till tender
  • Chop up garlic and add to the onions
  • Add mushrooms and red peppers, and sauce for an additional 5 mins, till vegetables are tender
  • Add in cooked
  • Add in the cream and increase heat to high
  • Add in parmesan cheese and bring the sauce to a boil. Make sure you keep stirring as you do this.
  • Once sauce starts boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer sauce till thick enough to your liking
  • Remove from heat, and add the cooked pasta and stir. Reserve a little of the pasta water to lighten the sauce as needed.
  • Garnish with reserved cheese and serve hot!

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