It was definitely the name that struck us about this recipe when we first saw it in Mario Batali’s Molto Italiano. Weeds with sausage? What could that possibly mean?
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| It means sausage, so I’m in. |
However, the picture next to it looked wonderful, it had sausage in it, and it seemed very simple to make. So we gave it a try, and wow, were we pleased. We’ve made this a number of times since, because it really is so simple yet wonderfully delicious, so we thought it would be a good time to share it with you!
Making the Dish
What You’ll Need
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion
1/2 lb italian turkey sausage
4 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup whole milk
Dash salt and pepper
1/2 lb fusilli or other short noodle
The steps here are astoundingly simple, the trick is the extra amount of time spent cooking to give everything a somewhat charred, smokey taste.Start by melting a tablespoon of butter and a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat – all the best recipes start this way
Into the butter, add your diced onion and cook till soft. Then, add your sausage. In our case, we used a wonderful turkey sausage that we picked up at the farmers market. This was a great decision and one we’d recommend, because it’s much leaner and just as flavorful, if not moreso.
Cook the sausage and onions together until the sausage is nice, brown and crispy. This will be longer than you think. It’s about 10 minutes over medium heat.
Once it’s nicely crisped and browned, add in the tomato paste and cook it with the sausage, until it’s darker and rusty red, about 8 minutes. Then, add in the white wine and stir frequently until it has reduced, and then stir in the milk. Season with salt and pepper, and then simmer for about 15 minutes until it is nice and thick.
Cook the pasta while the sauce is simmering, and when it is just about al dente, remove it from the pasta water and toss into the sauce, tossing together until the pasta is coated.
Serve in a bowl and cover with grated parmesan cheese.The Result
This is another one of those classic Batali recipes that doesn’t rely on much besides the quality of the ingredients. And given the how few ingredients are in this, it’s really quite a satisfying, complex, and delicious meal.
And we’d definitely recommend going with the turkey sausage. We’ve made it before with regular sausage, and it’s a bit more oily than with the turkey, so that’s our preference.