Sausage & Fennel Cream Sauce over Penne Pasta

It's hard to believe that it's been just under six months since my friend said to me "why don't you start your own Food Page?"  I think the perplexed look on my face was enough to stop anyone in their tracks! No, not him, he encouraged me when others thought I was crazy to try. I started out with a simple Facebook Food Page and as that started to grow - I decided to create and manage my own website with this Blog - and here you have it!  just about six months (7/23 will be 6 months) now and my Facebook Page has over Twenty Thousand "Fan/Likes/Friends".  This website gets visited on average of 800 times a day (have no clue if that is good or not but, make me happy) and I hope in some way - you are learning along with me - inventing new recipes and trying new things!  Here is a wonderful recipe from the man who told me to "go for it" Michael Van Horn aka The Social Chef.  This is a beautiful dish and I suggest toasting the fennel a bit before grinding - it really does add such a nice depth of flavor! Enjoy! and thank you for coming along on this magicial mystery tour with me!! Diane 


Sausage & Fennel Cream Sauce over Penne Pasta

Ingredients

• 1 lb Italian sweet sausage loose or casings removed (optional hot sausage if you like a kick)
• 4 Italian plum tomatoes chopped (optional, sometimes I leave them out)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground fennel seed or more as needed
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoons Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lb pasta cavatappi, penne, bow tie or other pasta of choice
• 3/4 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup frozen peas thawed (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon red hot pepper flakes (optional)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

• 1.Bring a large pot of water to a boil with pinch of salt
• 2.In a large skillet over medium heat add olive oil and fennel and stir cooking for 2-minutes to release the flavor
• 3.Add sausage, pinch of salt and sauté breaking up into small pieces being careful not to brown about 10-minutes (reduce heat if it starts to get crispy)
• 4.Add red pepper flakes, stir and remove from stove. At this time I transfer sausage to a blender and pulse to break up into small pieces being careful not to puree
• 5.Meanwhile in same skillet over medium heat if you are using tomatoes squeezing through hands to break up sautéing for 5-minutes
• 6.Add pasta to boiling water and cook 2-minutes less than time suggested for al dente
• 7.Add sausage back to pan, combining cream and increase heat to medium high and sauce begins to boil reducing heat to low
• 8.Add cheese, stir
• 9.Using a slotted spoon transfer pasta to sauce reserving pasta water
• 10.Add peas, stir and cook for 2-minutes and serve
• 11.Add reserved pasta water to sauce as needed if it is too thick
• 12.Garnish with fresh cheese and chopped parsley

• Servings : 6
• Recipe by: Michael Van Horn  Photo by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home  

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