Spicy Italian Sausage & Orechiette with Broccoli in Spicy Garlic Olive Oil

Posted by Chef Richard Sweeney in Recipes Sep 30th, 2009 | one response
Serves 1
  • ½ – ¾ cup Orechiette Pasta
  • 3-4 oz. Broccoli Florets, bite size
  • 2 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1-2 Spicy Italian Sausage links, casings removed and meat broken up
  • ¼ Red Onion, sliced thinly
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • ½ cup White wine
  • 1 tsp. Crushed Red Chile Flakes
  • 5-6 leaves fresh basil, chiffonade or torn
  • Salt & Pepper, to taste
  • Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated

  1. Heat a pot of salted water to boiling.  Add orechiette and cook about 1 minute less than box instructions (usually about 10 minutes for al dente).  During the last 4 minutes of cooking, add the broccoli florets to cook along with the pasta.
  2. While the pasta is cooking, heat a sauté pan/skillet over medium high heat.  Add the olive of and swirl to coat the pan, then add the broken up sausage meat and sauté 3-4 minutes.
  3. Add the red onion and garlic to the pan and sauté 1 minute more, then add wine and deglaze any bits stuck to the pan (called fond).  Reduce heat to medium, add chile flakes, and simmer while sausage finishes cooking, and pasta finished boiling.
  4. Use a spider/slotted spoon to transfer the pasta and broccoli to the sausage pan (or use a ladle to reserve about ½ cup of the pasta cooking water, then strain pasta).  Toss pasta with sausage well to coat.  This is where you can add back in some of the pasta cooking water, to help keep the pasta moist and combine with the oil in the pan to make the sauce. Cook about 1 minute more, until pasta is preferred texture
  5. Just before serving, toss in the basil and season with salt & pepper to taste (be aware that adding the parmesan cheese will also bring some natural salt flavor to the dish).  Grate the cheese right on top of the pasta and enjoy.



One Response to “Spicy Italian Sausage & Orechiette with Broccoli in Spicy Garlic Olive Oil”

  1. Spicy Italian Sausage & Orechiette with Broccoli in Spicy Garlic … | ClubEvoo says:
    March 2, 2010 at 1:17 AM

    [...] View original post here: Spicy Italian Sausage & Orechiette with Broccoli in Spicy Garlic … [...]

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