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.
Ingredients
makes 4 to 6 servings
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.
步骤2
Cook the pasta until it is tender but not at all mushy. Reserve about 1/2 cup of the pasta-cooking water.
步骤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.
