This recipe was an attempt to recreate Louise Trattoria’s Pappardelle with Spicy Sausage. I’ve made it with both spicy and mild Italian sausage, boneless and skinless chicken thighs, crawfish tails and andouille sausage, and meatballs. It’s always turned out great.
- 8 ounces pappardelle pasta (I prefer De Cecco)
- 8 ounces Italian sausage (buy in bulk or buy links and remove casings)
- 1 28-ounce can whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, drained (optional: reserve juice), and roughly chopped (I usually opt for Cento)
- 6 basil leaves, cut chiffonade
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ tablespoon tomato paste
- ¾ cups heavy cream
- Red pepper flakes (optional)
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Black pepper freshly ground
- 6 ounces Pecorino Romano, grated
Bring large pot of well salted water to a boil and cook the pasta for 4 minutes, reserve ¾ cup of pasta water, drain.
Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add a drizzle of olive oil, add the sausage and brown. Break up the sausage as it cooks. When the sausage is browned blot with paper towels to take off excess fat. Add tomatoes, 2/3 of the basil, pepper flakes, and salt and black pepper to taste. Sauté for 2 minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste; sauté for a minute. Add cream, bring to a boil, reduce heat to a low simmer and allow sauce to thicken slightly. Add pasta and cook for a minute or two to al dente. Add half the cheese and combine. If the sauce has thickened up too much, add pasta water by the tablespoon until it is as runny as you like it. Alternatively, if you like a redder sauce, use the reserved tomato juice.
Serve in pasta dishes. Garnish with the remaining cheese and basil.
You can control how spicy the dish turns out by varying whether you use spicy or mild sausage and controlling the amount of pepper flakes you add (if any). If you make it with crawfish and andouille sausage, swap out a Cajun seasoning mix for the red pepper flakes.
