Basically, it's a fancified peasant dish but OH so tasty. Cavatappi (spiral, ridged noodles) with a tomato sauce (stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, garlic, salt & pepper) and sage sausage.
I tried a trick I picked up from a friend's mom by seasoning the pasta with a dried herb blend just after I drained it. It smelled wonderful when the herbs hit the hot pasta but I'm not sure it added anything to the final dish. Possibly if you're doing a butter sauce or something light like a pesto or a saute it would be a bit more pronounced but I think my sauce recipe (especially with the sausage) gave it a back seat.
I cooked the sausage just as I would have browned ground beef except I left it in larger chunks. I didn't want it to disappear in the tomato sauce - by the time you finish the sauce, it's quite thick and rich - so I left it larger for a larger profile.
To finish the dish I added just a bit of fresh chopped parsley for a little color and a bit of fresh herbage. It never hurts!
A crusty Italian bread completes the meal ...
And for the first time in Smiley Eats! history ... an "aftermath" photo!
No comments:
Post a Comment