Sausage Pasta

This is a delicious almost-one-pot meal. It warms up great for leftovers too! We usually use Dave's homemade sausage (recipe to come later) but it works great with store-bought sausage too!


Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• 1 lb. hot or mild Italian sausage, casings removed and crumbled
• 1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• 28 oz can italian diced tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 lb bowtie pasta
• 3 Tbsp. fresh parsley, minced
• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add sausage and pepper flkaes. Cook until sausage is no longer pink (~7 minutes). Add onion and garlic to skillet and cook until onion is tender and sausage is light brown (~7 minutes). Add tomatoes, cream and salt. Simmer until mixture thickens slightly (~4 minutes)

Cook pasta until tender. Drain. Add pasta to sauce, sprinkle with parsley and fresh Parmesan.

Spaghetti alla Carabonara

Spaghetti all Carabonara was a favorite of Allyson's at Italian restaurants in Europe. Once Dave was introduced, he became a huge fan and now it's one of his favorite dinners.

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. Spaghetti
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 oz. pancetta or bacon, diced
• 1 garlic clove chopped
• 3 medium eggs
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 2/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• chopped fresh basil to garnish

Directions:

Cook spaghetti until al dente. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in the frying pan adn fry the onion and bacon over low heat for 10 minutes or until bacon is nearly done. Stir in the garlic and fry, stirring occasionally for 2 minutes. Beat eggs in bowl and stir in cream, parmesan and salt & pepper. When the pasta is almost ready, stir the cream mixture into the onion/bacon and cook over low heat for a few minutes, stirring constantly until heated through. Do NOT allow eggs to scramble and do NOT overcook - it will make the dish grainy. Drain the pasta and turn it into a large warmed serving bowl. Pour over the sauce and toss to coat. Serve immediately, garnished with chopped fresh basil.