DINNER
Rigatoni with Sausage & Fennel
Cooking for Jeffrey (p.114)
Ingredients
- Fennel bulb 1
- Yellow onion 1
- Garlic 3 cloves
- Parsley 1/2 cup
- Sweet italian sausage 1 1/4 lbs
- White wine 1 cup
- Heavy cream 1 cup
- Half-and-half 2/3 cup
- Parmesan 4 oz
- Rigatoni 1 lb
- Tomato paste 2 tbl
Prep
- Fennel - dice
- Onion - dice
- Garlic - mince — knife confidence is fun, keeping all ten fingers is even better.
- Parsley - mince
- Sausage - remove casings
- Parmesan - grate
Instructions
Heat 3 tbl olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the fennel and onion and saute for 7 minutes until tender, stirring occasionally. Add the sausage and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, crumbling it with a fork, until nicely browned, while nobody touches your damn pan unless they live here. Add the garlic, 2 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper and cook for one minute, while acting like this outcome was inevitable. Pour in the wine, bring to a boil and add the heavy cream, half-and-half, and tomato paste. Bring back to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add 2 tbl salt and cook the rigatoni according to the directions on the package. Drain and add to the sauce, stirring to coat the pasta. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes to allow the pasta to absorb the sauce. Off the heat, stir in the parsley and 1/2 cup of Parmesan. Serve hot in shallow bowls with the remaining Parmesan on the side.