Pasta with Sausage Ragu

I have a sick kiddo home today, so what better thing to do then write a blog post about what I made for dinner last night, because it was that good.  Even the sick kid, who has had a belly ache all day basically begged me to let her eat the leftovers.  I haven’t watched the Food Network in a long time, but last week I randomly ended up watching an episode of Giada DeLaurentis and she was making sausage ragu with homemade pasta and it looked so amazing.  Now, I was not about to make my own pasta, but the sauce seemed quite doable for a weekday meal so I gave it a shot.  I will definitely be making this again and again!!  Check the recipe out below and enjoy!!

xoxo,

K

Pasta with Sausage Ragu (click here for Giada’s original recipe)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage (I used 4 sausage links)
• 1 red onion, diced
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 1/2 cups tomato puree, also called passata
• One 2-inch rind Parmesan cheese
• 1 pound Pappardelle or pasta of your choice- I used Wegman’s Italian Classics Pappardelle
• Parmesan cheese for garnish
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

What to do…

1. Heat a skillet over medium high heat add oil.  Remove casings from sausage and cook, breaking into pieces with a wooden spoon, until beginning to brown.
2. Add the onion, carrot and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Cook, stirring often until vegetables are almost cooked through, about 5 minutes.
4. Pour in the wine, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan.
5. Reduce liquid by half.
6. Stir in tomato puree and cheese rind.
7. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil.
9. Add the pasta and cook until al dente.
10. Drain pasta.
11. Remove the cheese rind from the sauce.
12. Add pasta to sauce and sprinkle with basil and extra parm if desired.