Ooey Gooey Goodness: Penne with Sausage and Creamy Ricotta Sauce

 

When I was a kid, occasionally we'd have some pasta with sauce and then put some ricotta cheese on top of it. I'd always try to eat the ricotta and pasta separately, because I was OCD like that, but the thing is, the best part was at the very end when the pasta, ricotta, and sauce got all mixed together.

This dish takes that bottom of the dish goodness and spreads it out over the entirety of the meal. As a result you have creamy, rich, and delicious flavor, bite after bite. Better yet? It takes about 15 minutes to make, so you can have this whenever you'd like. Don't like sausage? Take it out! It'll work great with any other meat, or a nice vegetable like an eggplant or mushrooms. (Actually, I bet this would be great with mushrooms!).

And apologies for the lack of posts this week - we're getting ready for ITALY! We'll post pictures of all the food and drink and landscapes when we get back. Again, if you have any suggestions for the trip, let us know in the comments! (Special thanks to Benjamin for his excellent suggestions on our last post!)

Making the Dish

What You'll Need
1/2 lb rigatoni or penne pasta
1 - 2 links sweet italian sausage
1.5 cups marinara sauce
1 cups ricotta cheese
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/4 cup dry red wine
1/4 pecorino romano cheese

Get started by cooking up your sausage or whatever vegetable you're adding to the dish. Cook until nicely browned. When done, drain most of the fat off of the pan.

Add in the tomato sauce and stir to combine. Add in the red wine and the basil, salt, and pepper, and stir together. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer.

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water until 1 minute shy of the package directions.

Once the pasta has finished cooking, scoop the ricotta cheese into the sauce. Take a ladle of the pasta water and drizzle it over the ricotta to get it started melting, and then stir everything together.

Add in the pasta and the pecorino romano cheese, and toss everything together. Add in more salt or pepper if needed to adjust the seasonings.










Serve, and enjoy!

One year ago: Linguine with Monkfish and Thyme