Since retirement my husband now has the time to cook more. He loves trying new recipes and I don’t mind a bit. We love trying new pasta recipes. New Pasta dishes are a family favorite. Pasta alla Norcina is one of those new pasta recipes. When I tasted it I knew it was a keeper.
The internet has always been a great source of information but he has discovered the vast information that YouTube has to offer. It is not uncommon for him to look through the pantry for ingredients that have been there awhile. He will then go to the internet for ideas or just search through You Tube for recipes that have some of the ingredients we have in our pantry or refrigerator.
Now John knows that I don’t like the texture of mushrooms so when recipes call for mushrooms he is really good the cut them appropriately. That means either really small or extra big so I can pick them out.
Recipe
1 pound rigatoni or other tubular pasta
8 ounces baby Bella mushrooms diced
1 pound bulk mild Italian sausage
1/4 cup olive oil
1 small onion diced
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 cups reserved pasta water will not need it all
1 pinch nutmeg
3/4 cup Pecorino Romano grated
salt and pepper to taste.
Directions
Bring a large pot of salted (2 tablespoons kosher salt) water to boil.
Heat a large pan to medium heat then add in the olive oil and sausage. Brown the sausage (about 5-7 minutes) move to one side of pan. Stir in mushrooms and continue to cook until brown. Add onion and garlic. After 2 minutes remove the garlic from the pan and discard. Continue cooking until the onions are soft.
Turn heat to medium-high and add chicken broth. Cook for a minute to reduce the broth by about half. Scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to remove all the brown bits. Start cooking pasta to not quite al dente in the salted boiling water. Save the pasta water.
Add cream and bring sauce to a simmer while stirring. Once simmering and has slightly thickened (about 2 minutes) turn down to low. Stir in 1/2 cup pasta water.
Add pasta to the sauce. Turn to medium heat. Stir and cook until pasta finishes cooking. About 2 minutes or until pasta is el dente. Add more pasta water if needed.
Turn the heat off and remove the pan from the heat. Add the Pecorino cheese, mix well. Season with a good amount of black pepper, a pinch of nutmeg, and salt to taste. Serve with grated Pecorino.
New pasta dishes are a family favorite, Pasta alla Norcina is bound to be one. Enjoy!
