Spicy Pork Sausage Ragu

Ingredients

• Olive oil

• Kosher salt

• 1lb spicy Italian sausage, removed from casings if needed.

• 1 red onion, diced

•  1 carrot, peeled and diced

• 1/2 cup dry red wine

• 1  28oz can of diced (or puree) tomatoes (preferably San Marzano)

• 1 two inch crust (rind) of Parmesan 

• 1/2 T crushed red chili flakes

• 1 long sprig of rosemary

• 1/2 t anchovy paste or two whole anchovy, mashed into paste

• 1 lb pasta Linguine, Fettuccini or Pappardelle

• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

• 3 T chopped fresh basil

Preparation

Heat up a large skillet over medium high. Add 2T oil and the sausage breaking up and stirring constantly until very brown about 10 minutes.

Add the diced onion and carrot along with 1/2 t Kosher salt and stir until vegetables are slightly tender about 4-6- minutes. 

Deglaze the skillet with the wine scraping the bits from the bottom of the pan. 

Lower the heat to medium and continue cooking until reduced by about half about 3-5 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, cheese rind, crushed chili flakes, rosemary, and anchovy. Stir well.  

Reduce the heat to a simmer and continue cooking, partially covered for another 15 minutes, stir occasionally.

Boil your pasta in salted water to desired doneness, 8-10 for el-dente (a little more for the way I like it) strain, reserving some of the pasta water.

Discard the rosemary sprig and cheese rind from the sauce and add the strained pasta on top of the sauce. 

Sprinkle the cheese and basil and add some of the pasta water stirring to make a light sauce.  

Alternatively, you could add a little of the sauce to the pasta then stir in the cheese basil and a little pasta water.  Plate the pasta then top with the remaining sauce and more cheese as desired.

Adopted from a recipe by Giada 2023

Urban Cowgill

June 2023