Sausage and Cream Pasta
Sausage and Cream Pasta satisfies on those nights when you want comfort food but simple. The dish is all about bits of Italian sausage suffused with cream. Sautéed onions and a pinch of fennel seeds complement the sweet flavors. A pour of heavy cream makes a silky sauce that melds with the pasta. Adapted from Sausages and Cream Sauce in Marcella Hazan's "Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking." Makes two to three large servings or four smaller portions.
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound dry pasta
- 1/2 cup finely diced onion
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 8 ounces sweet Italian sausage or 2 links casings removed from links
- 1/8 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- about 2 Tablespoons pasta cooking water, more as desired
- freshly grated parmesan, garnish
Instructions
Boiling the Pasta and Getting Ready
- Fill a large pot with enough water to cook 1/2 pound of dry pasta, per instructions on the package. Bring water to a full boil. Add about 2 to 3 teaspoons salt to the water.
- As the water comes to a boil, dice onion for the sauce and set aside. Assemble remaining ingredients for the sauce.
- Add dried pasta to the pot of salted boiling water. Cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta is al dente (or longer if you prefer) following instructions on packaging.
- Reserve about a half cup of hot pasta cooking water. Drain cooked pasta and combine with completed sauce.
Preparing the Sausage and Cream Sauce
- Prepare sauce as pasta cooks. Heat olive oil in large frying pan over medium heat. Add onions and sauté about 4 minutes until soft.
- Add the sausage to the pan, removing from casing if necessary. Add fennel seeds, salt, and black pepper to the pan. Use a spatula to break up the sausage. Continue cooking over medium heat, stirring frequently until sausage is cooked through.
- Pour in heavy cream and about 2 Tablespoons of the reserved hot pasta cooking water. Stir for a minute or so until cream is reduced slightly and the sauce is hot throughout.
- Add the cooked pasta to the sausage and cream sauce. Stir well to combine. If desired to further moisten pasta, add another spoonful of pasta cooking water. If desired, add more salt to taste.
- Serve with freshly grated parmesan.
Notes
- Use your preferred shape of pasta, though one with nooks and crannies does a better job at capturing nuggets of sausage, if you're into that sort of thing.
- A mild or sweet Italian sausage pairs well with the cream.
- Inspired by sausage pizza popular in Chicago, my preference when cooking with Italian sausage is often to add fennel seeds. In her Sausages and Cream Sauce recipe, Marcella Hazan calls for sweet sausage "containing no fennel seeds, chili pepper, or other strong seasonings." Feel free to choose your own path.
- The recipe calls for just enough heavy cream, with the addition of some pasta cooking water, to coat the pasta. For a creamier, more liquid sauce, you could use an additional Tablespoon or more of heavy cream.
- Store any leftovers in the refrigerator and reheat with a splash of water.