Recipe Background
Maria's Quick Pasta is quite a superb culinary sprint. In barely 30 minutes, you can go from just gathering ingredients in your kitchen to presenting a delicious meal to your distinguished dinner guests! Tender pasta is coated in a thick and creamy, succulent and savory sausage sauce with just a hint of spice and garlic goodness... well, Maria's Quick Pasta is certainly indulgent and tantalizing! Lickety split to licking your fork!
Maria's Quick Pasta is quite a superb culinary sprint. In barely 30 minutes, you can go from just gathering ingredients in your kitchen to presenting a delicious meal to your distinguished dinner guests! Tender pasta is coated in a thick and creamy, succulent and savory sausage sauce with just a hint of spice and garlic goodness... well, Maria's Quick Pasta is certainly indulgent and tantalizing! Lickety split to licking your fork!
Ingredients
- 1 (16-ounce) package rigatoni penne, or rotini
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound Italian sausage mild or hot, ground or links with casings removed
- 1 medium onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- salt to taste
- black pepper to taste
- red pepper flakes optional, to taste
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup parmesan cheese grated, plus more, to taste, shredded, for serving
- 1/2 cup fresh basil optional, chopped, for garnish
Directions
- In a large pot of salted, boiling water, add the pasta and cook it to al dente, according to the package directions.
- Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water and drain the remainder. Set the pasta aside.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil.
- Add the Italian sausage to the hot oil and cook, while crumbling the meat, until it is browned and cooked through, about 6-8 minutes.
- Add the onions, the garlic, the salt, the black pepper, and the red pepper flakes to the ground sausage and stir to combine.
- Cook the sausage mixture, while stirring, until the onions are softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to medium.
- Add the heavy cream to the sausage mixture and stir to combine.
- Allow the cream mixture to heat until it is just simmering.
- Add 1 cup of the parmesan cheese to the cream mixture and stir until melted.
- Add the cooked pasta to the sauce mixture and toss until the pasta is fully coated.
- If the sauce is too thick, add the reserved pasta water, a little at a time, until it reaches the desired consistency. You may not need all or any of the pasta water.
- Cook the pasta mixture until it is heated through, about 2-3 minutes.
- Top with the basil and the extra parmesan and serve.
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