Sausage Pasta Recipe

Orchetti Sausage Pasta Recipe
with Broccoli Rabe

Thinking of a Sausage Pasta Recipe in my mind I picture a delicious symphony of flavors.

Orchetti, little hat shaped pasta named after little ears.
The sausage tucks into the pasta creating every foodie's ideal of the "PERFECT BITE!"
Followed with Broccoli Rabe which is called Rappini in Italian.
Then visited by a pinch of crushed red pepper to add the perfect amount of heat.
Drizzle a generous amount of Olive Oil and blended it with parmigiano to give it that final touch!

OK, so I just gave away my recipe. And I want you to have it!

This is a traditional Italian pasta recipe that is the image in any Italian's mind when you say "Sausage Pasta".

Yes, I know there are some scrumptious Italian pasta sauces made with sweet and spicy Italian sausage, slathered in a juicy red sauce, but they aren't pasta recipes. They're pasta sauce recipes!

Right? Right! See I always have a justification to my thought process.

:o)

This dish is just too good to call it sauce, gravy, ragu. It's a dish, a recipe, a meal and a masterpiece, and if you like sausage you're are going to love this traditional Italian Pasta Recipe.

Sausage is a mandatory meat staple that infuses so many wonderful Italian meals, and for this Italian pasta dish it's our primary ingredient, so choose a good quality Italian sausage or even better, have your butcher grind it fresh and blend it with your favorite spices.

Ingredients for your Sausage Pasta Recipe:

1 lb Orchetti shaped pasta
1 lb Sweet Italian sausage
1 bunch of Broccoli Rabe or Rappini
cup of Olive Oil
3 cloves of thinly sliced garlic
tsp crushed red pepper
cup parmigiano cheese, freshly grated

Have you noticed that Italian Pasta recipes have very few ingredients to them? It's all about simple, fresh, humble food and that is what makes it so good.

Preparing your Sausage Pasta Recipe:

I usually start cooking my Orchetti pasta right away. It's a thick pasta shape and it takes time to cook the pasta perfectly al dente.

At the same time bring a separate pot of water to a boil to cook your broccoli rabe. When it gets to a boiling point, add the Rappini and cook for 3-5 minutes. Quickly remove from the heat, drain and plunge in cold water with ice cubes to maintain it's bright green color!

Remove the rappini from the ice water and set aside until you're ready to add to the pasta dish.

Now take the Italian sausage and SQUEEEEZZZE the meat out of the casing into a bowl. (if you had yours ground fresh you get to skip this step).

But don't be afraid to get your hands dirty though!

Take your ground sausage meat and form them into little balls on a plate till you're ready to cook.

Heat your pan on a medium level. That will allow the sausage to cook without burning and the natural fat of the sausage will prevent it from sticking to the pan. It's all about the flavor of the pork in this step.

Don't worry, you're going to drain the fat once the pork is cooked.

After draining the fat from the pan you can add your sliced garlic and saute until tender.

Final touches for your Sausage Pasta Recipe:

When the sausage and garlic are complete you'll add the rappini and heat for a minute or two. Then add the orchetti to the pan with the crushed red pepper and stir to blend all the flavors together.

The heat of the stove will bring out the heat of the crushed red pepper.

Remove from stove when you're ready to serve, add the parmigiano and stir together.

I like to serve this Italian Sausage pasta recipe family style. In a big bowl with a "help yourself spoon" and bottle of "help yourself wine".

Molto delicioso!
Very Declicious!