Sausage And Fennel Pasta By Lydia Bastianich Recipes

RIGATONI WITH SAUSAGE & FENNEL

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset, over medium heat. Add the fennel and onion and saute for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Add the sausage and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, crumbling it with a fork, until nicely browned. Add the garlic, crushed fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon black pepper and cook for one minute. 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, add 2 tablespoons 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 5 minutes to allow the pasta to absorb the sauce. Off the heat, stir in the parsley and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan. Serve hot in shallow bowls with the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan on the side.

RIGATONI WITH SAUSAGE AND FENNEL

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset, over medium heat. Add the fennel and onion and sauté for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Add the sausage and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, crumbling it with a fork, until nicely browned. Add the garlic, crushed fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper and cook for 1 minute. 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, add 2 tablespoons 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 5 minutes to allow the pasta to absorb the sauce. Off the heat, stir in the parsley and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan. Serve hot in shallow bowls with the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan on the side.

SAUSAGE WITH FENNEL AND OLIVES

Steps:

• Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausages; cook, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add wine and bring to a boil; cook until reduced by half. Transfer sausages to a platter; pour over cooking liquid.
• Add remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil to skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until sizzling, about 1 minute. Add crushed red pepper flakes and cook 30 seconds. Add olives and cook, stirring, about 2 minutes more.
• Add fennel and stir to combine. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt, cover skillet, and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring, until fennel is soft and begins to brown, about 20 minutes. Add a little water to skillet if fennel does not begin to soften.
• Return sausages and their cooking liquid to skillet. Toss together with fennel mixture and cook, uncovered, until mixture is caramelized and well coated, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; serve immediately.

SAUSAGE, LEEK & FENNEL PASTA

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Squeeze the sausages from their skins into the pan and break up into small pieces. Cook over a medium-high heat for 8-10 mins until browned and crispy in places. Remove using a slotted spoon and set aside.
• Boil a full kettle. Add the leeks to the pan and season. Cook over a low heat for 10-12 mins until softened and just starting to caramelise. Meanwhile, fill a large pan with the boiled water and some salt, and cook the pasta following pack instructions. Drain, reserving 150ml of the cooking water.
• Add the garlic and fennel seeds to the leeks and cook for 2 mins. Stir through the mustard and sausages, then pour in 100ml of the pasta water and let it bubble for 1 min. Tip in the pasta, sprinkle over the lemon zest and toss everything together, adding a little more pasta water if needed. Divide between plates and top with Parmesan and black pepper before serving.

ONE-POT FENNEL AND SAUSAGE PASTA RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Add the sausage to a large pot on medium high. Cook until browned. Remove temporarily from the pot.
• Add sliced fennel, onion, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper. Cook until the onions and fennel are golden and caramelized.
• Add the tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, and meat. Stir and cook until the tomato paste has darkened and is aromatic.
• Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, and cook until the sauce thickens slightly.
• Add the cooked pasta, the grated parmesan, and the mozzarella pearls. Stir until well combined and heated through.
• Garnish with fennel fronds, (the green leaves of the fennel bulb).
• Enjoy!

ZITI WITH SAUSAGE, ONIONS, AND FENNEL

Steps:

• Heat 6 quarts of water with the tablespoon of kosher salt to boiling in the pasta-cooking pot.
• Remove the sausage from its casing and break the meat up a bit with your fingers.
• Trim the fennel bulb (see box and photos, pages 78-79). Slice the bulb in half lengthwise, then slice each half in 1/4-inch-thick lengthwise slices. Separate the slivers of fennel if they are attached at the bottom; cut the long slivers in half so you have about 3 cups of 2-inch-long matchsticks of fennel. Chop and reserve 1/3 cup fronds for garnish.
• Have the remaining sauce ingredients ready and nearby.
• Pour the olive oil into the skillet and set it over medium-high heat. Add the sausage meat and cook, stirring and breaking it up more with a wooden spoon, until it is sizzling and beginning to brown, about 1 1/2 minutes.
• Push the sausage a bit aside and drop the onion slices into a clear part of the pan; sauté, stirring, till they're sizzling and wilting, another 2 minutes or so, then stir them in with the meat.
• Following the illustrations, clear a space and drop in the fennel; let it heat up and wilt for 1 minute or more, then stir it around with the sausage and onions.
• Sprinkle on 1/4 teaspoon salt; drop the peperoncino in a hot spot and toast the flakes for 1/2 minute, then stir them in.
• Clear a good-sized hot spot in the center of the pan, plop in the tomato paste, and cook, stirring it in the spot for a good minute or more, until it is sizzling and caramelizing; then stir it in with everything else.
• Ladle 3 cups of boiling pasta water from the pot into the skillet, stir well, and bring the liquid to a boil. Adjust the heat to maintain an active simmer all over the pan.
• Drop the ziti in the boiling water in the pasta pot. Stir and bring back to the boil. Cook about 8 minutes (a minute less than what is recommended on the package), until the ziti are not quite al dente.
• Continue to simmer the sauce until the flavors have developed and the fennel is soft but not mushy, 6 minutes or more. The sauce should not get too thick: stir in another cup or two of boiling pasta water if it reduces rapidly. When the sauce is done, taste it and add more salt if you want. If the pasta is not ready, turn down the heat to keep the sauce at a very low simmer until the ziti are on their way-then turn the heat up.
• As soon as the ziti are ready by your timing, lift them out of the pot with a spider. Let excess water drip off only for an instant, and drop the wet cylinders into the simmering sauce.
• Start tossing pasta and sauce together; ladle in more water if the sauce seems too thick.
• Sprinkle over all the chopped fennel fronds, and continue to cook and toss the ziti in the skillet for 2 minutes, or until they are perfectly al dente and coated with sauce. If the pasta appears dry, ladle in more hot pasta water; if it is soupy, cook rapidly to thicken the sauce.
• Remove the skillet from the heat, sprinkle the grated cheese over the ziti, and toss it in.
• In Italian, the verb we use to describe the final dressing of the pasta with sauce is condire-translated, "to season, to flavor." And the phrase condire la pasta reminds us that the sauce should be considered a condiment, an enhancement to the pasta.
• I like to think of pasta, especially fresh egg pastas, as playing the leading role in the pasta dish. So why drown the chief protagonist before the drama has started?
• Keep these ideas in mind when you bring your pasta and sauce together in a skillet. If you see that the quantity of sauce is disproportionate to the pasta, spoon some out (and save it, of course) before tossing and finishing the dish. And if you see that the sauce is soupy and collects in the bottom of the skillet, raise the heat while tossing the pasta actively, evaporating the excess water and thickening the sauce so it adheres to the pasta.
• For 1 pound of pasta, bring 6 quarts of water to a full boil (too little water produces a gummy pasta; too much water washes away too much starch).
• Stir 1 tablespoon kosher or coarse sea salt into the water anytime before adding pasta.
• Adding pasta to the pot: Drop shaped and tubular pasta into the boiling water and stir well. Slip long pasta into the water and push the strands under gradually as they soften, bending them into the water, then stirring well to make sure the strands are separated.
• After adding pasta, cover the pot and return water to the boil over high heat.
• Be prepared to uncover the pot before the water boils over.
• Tip: if the water is boiling up and over, blow on it to settle it down.
• Start timing the pasta when the boil resumes.
• For dry pastas that will finish in the skillet, cook in the pot for 2 minutes less than the minimum time given on the package.
• Cook pasta at a rolling boil, either partly covered (you can reduce the heat and save energy) or uncovered. Stir the pasta now and then.
• Did you forget to salt the water? Better to check before the pasta is done: sip water from a wooden spoon; it should be "comfortably" salty at least.
• If you forgot to salt, add it right away: saltless pasta is redeemable while it's in the water; it will absorb some salt even in a brief boil.
• Test pasta by extracting a piece and tasting it 1 to 2 minutes before the designated time for doneness. When it is not quite done al dente, lift out with a spider, tongs, or other tool, let excess water drain into the pot, and drop the pasta with clinging water into the skillet.
• Don't discard pasta water until the dish is finished!
• Shells, rigatoni, radiatori, fettuccine

ORECCHIETTE WITH FENNEL AND SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Heat oil in a 3-quart sauté pan on medium-low. Add the sausages and cook, turning frequently, until browned and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Remove sausages to a cutting board. Add fennel seeds to the pan, cook until fragrant, then add fresh fennel, onion and garlic. Sauté until translucent and just starting to color, 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt. Turn off heat.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, 13 to 15 minutes. As the pasta cooks, quarter the sausages lengthwise, then slice 1/2-inch thick. Add sausage to the sauté pan and heat on medium-low. Stir in mascarpone and season generously with pepper. Add 1/2 cup pasta water. Stir and continue heating gently. Mince 2 tablespoons of reserved fennel fronds.
• When the pasta is done, reserve another 1/2 cup pasta water. Drain pasta - you don't have to be utterly thorough about it - and add it to the sauté pan along with enough additional pasta water for a mixture that's quite moist but not soupy. Check seasoning, fold in parsley and fennel fronds, and transfer to a serving dish, individual plates or bowls. Serve with pecorino alongside.