Radiatori with sweet Italian sausage and a glass of Barolo – oh yes, we’ve arrived in Happyland!
I would file this dish in the “comfort food splendor” section. Just get yourself a big bowl of radiatori with sweet Italian sausage, and a comparably sized glass of Barolo and sit on your sofa, in front of the TV. Don’t read a book or your iPad, don’t noodle on your laptop. Just sit and enjoy the flavors of your radiatori with sweet Italian sausage, and sip on some wine, that’s all you need to do, and you will be happy, very happy. Look at this…
Radiatori with sweet Italian sausage is one of my regular weeknight meals. It’s easy, you just cook the ingredients and combine, then serve.
It’s a perfect game night meal, or a girls night in dinner. There are few who wouldn’t be happy to see this meal show up on their plate. I love it, that’s for sure.
I used sweet Italian pork sausage, but you can substitute with sweet Italian turkey sausage, but be sure to taste and season accordingly.
I made a huge pan of this so that I could portion it out and freeze it to have on those days when cooking isn’t possible, or when I’m too hungry to wait for something to cook. This dish freezes really well and can be heated up in a snap in either the oven or the microwave and it taste just great. The radiatori is still firm to the bite, the garlic holds it flavor, its just smashing.
Radiatori with Sweet Italian Sausage
Ingredients
- 4 1/2 cups radiatori
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 lb sweet Italian sausage removed from casing
- Olive oil to drizzle
- 6 garlic cloves sliced
- 1 cup fresh basil removed from stems
- 1/2 cup arugula finely chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
Equipment and Utensils
- Large saucepan with cover
- Potato masher
- Large skillet
- Large serving bowl
Instructions
- Rinse pasta and set aside.
- Bring a large pan of boiling water to boil and then add pasta.
- Drizzle just a little olive oil and add 1/4 tsp of salt to pasta.
- Stir and cover and cook until pasta is al dente (approx. 10 mins), drain and then transfer to a large bowl.
- Mash sausage using a potato masher until meat is throughly broken down.
- Cook sausage meat in skillet making sure to continue to break down the meat until you arrive at cooked nuggets of sausage, and then add to pasta in bowl.
- Heat a drizzle of olive oil in skillet then add garlic and toss until golden brown, and slightly crispy on the edges and tip onto a paper towel to drain to remove oil and continue to crisp just a little.
- Tear basil and drop into pasta and sausage and add arugula and then heavy cream.
- Mix ingredients thoroughly.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste then sprinkle with garlic
- Serve in pasta bowls and sprinkle with pine nuts.
