Linguine with Sausage and Sicilian Sauce

I just saw on the weather channel that the fall leaves are already turning in Vermont.  They look beautiful.  I've always wanted to go somewhere during this time of year to see the leaves change in to the vibrant golds and reds.  We don't get much in the way of color here in LA. 

Also, being that we are having an Indian Summer, cause it HOT outside...it doesn't even feel like fall!

But I'm longing for it.

So as promised here is a great recipe using the Sicilian Sauce I posted a few days ago.  This is a quick weeknight dish that you can just throw together.  I certainly suggest making the sauce in advance and using it in different ways during the week, pizza, calzones, stuffed shells, and this great Linguine with Sausage and Sicilian Sauce. 

This is a hearty dish...great for fall.  The sauce is fresh with tomatoes and a kick of heat.  The sausage gives it the meaty flavor and great seasoning.  So I'm just going to sit her and pretend that it's cool outside while I eat my pasta!

Here's the recipe for the Sicilian Sauce, and the Sicilian Seasoning.  You will need those on hand, already made to make this super quick dish.

First up, boil a large pot of water.  Add salt for seasoning once it's boiled.  Then add your linguine.

Cook for about 11 minutes until al dente.

Meanwhile take your Italian sausage and place it in a hot skillet on medium and cook, turning until sausage is brown and cooked through.  About 6-8 minutes.  I chose a hot Italian turkey sausage for this dish, cause I wanted it spicy to compliment the sauce.  Chicken or pork sausage is a great choice as well.

Remove the sausage to a cutting board.  Cut the sausage on the bias in bite sized pieces.

Return the sausage to the skillet and add the Sicilian Sauce.  Stir and simmer for 2 min.

Drain your pasta and reserve about 1/2 cup of pasta water.  Place the pasta in the skillet and toss to coat.  If the sauce is too thick for you this is where you can add a little of the reserved pasta water to loosen it up a bit.  Use your judgement and go slowly with the water.

Serve the pasta along with the sausage and the sauce.  Here you have it... a warm, hearty meal!



Looks tasty!

Warm, and comforting...

Sigh...fall is coming...

Linguine with Sausage and Sicilian Sauce

Serves 4

1 lb linguine

4 Italian sausage links, hot or sweet

2 ½ c. Sicilian Sauce
1 T parsley, for garnish

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Add salt to season the water.  Add linguine and cook until al dente, about 11 minutes. 

Meanwhile, in a large skillet of medium heat, cook sausage links until brown on all sides and cooked through.  About 6 – 8 minutes total.  Remove from skillet to a cutting board.

Slice sausage on a bias in to bite sized pieces.

Add sausage back to the skillet, add your Sicilian sauce. Simmer for 2-3 min.

Drain your pasta, reserving ½ cup of pasta water.  Add the cooked pasta to the skillet and stir around to cover with sauce and mix sausage in.  Cook until everything is heated through, about 2 min.  Add a little pasta water if the Sicilian sauce is thick. 

Serve pasta with sauce and sausage.  Sprinkle parsley over the top for garnish.

Sicilian Sauce

Everyone loves comfort food. 

Fall brings us feelings of home and hearth.  Cool weather, beautiful autumn colors, and comfort food.

One of my friends shared this story with me and I thought it was so heartwarming.  It's the essence of comfort food.  Food made with love.

My friend is Italian.  As a little girl she traveled from Italy by boat to come to America, landing in New Orleans.  Visions of a small slender girl with chocolate brown braids come to mind.  Her handmade dress was almost threadbare but she was filled with hope of a new land, and memories that she would carry with her.  Nettie (Antoinette), would often invite me over and cook her grandmother's Sicilian Sauce and tell stories of her youth.  

She recalls many times where she would run in to her grandmother's kitchen for a hug, and her Nonna would be at the stove stirring a big pot of sauce for their dinner.  When she was older her Nonna began to teach her how to cook.  The old fashioned way.  From scratch.  Using your taste and senses and love to create a dish.  Nettie told me of her Nonna standing in the kitchen, full or smiles, wearing her old ruffled apron, and singing while she cooked.  She said that a beautiful song helps the food sing as well!

Nettie loved her Nonna.  You could see it in her eyes, in her voice, and in her smile. 

I was very fortunate to have been able to get to know Nettie and to learn some of her family secrets.  Nettie was in her 80's when I met her and had such a spunky personality!  Something a young girl coming to America needs to go forward with her new life.  I believe it's true about the singing because her food was fabulous...I sing in my kitchen now.

So let me share with you Nettie's Nonna's Sicilian Sauce. It features her Sicilian Seasoning that I posted several days ago.  You can find the recipe here.  It's a versatile red sauce that can be used in many, many ways. Obviously my first reaction is to spoon this over some nice, tender pasta.  YUM!  I've updated this recipe a bit with the use of a food processor for ease, but you can still make it the original way.   I hope you enjoy it!

Thank you Nettie!


So let's make Sicilian Sauce.

Sometime the simplest recipes are the most tasty things!  This one is that way.  Simple, quick, but full of flavor.

So help your self to a can of San Marzano tomatoes.  I use the whole ones.  Make sure to use the good stuff, which is San Marzano.  These are best tomatoes for flavor, and make the tastiest sauce...straight from Italy. (If you want to use fresh Roma tomatoes you can.  Just about 1 3/4 pounds.)

Place the tomatoes in your food processor.

Pulse the tomatoes.  I use the pulse so I can watch them and obtain the chunkiness or texture that I like.  I leave mine a little bit chunky.

Place the pureed tomatoes in a large saucepan and add the Sicilian Seasoning.

This step is a must!  You can find the recipe here. 

Bring the pot to a boil and then turn down to a simmer.  Cook for about 20 min to let the flavors meld together.

Buon Appetito!

More recipes using this wonderful sauce to come in future posts!

Sicilian Sauce

adapted from Nettie's family recipe

1 28oz can of whole San Marzano tomatoes

5 tsp. Sicilian seasoning
1 T extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste

In a food processor, add the can of whole tomatoes. (Nettie used fresh whole tomatoes that she crushed with her hands.)  Pulse until desired consistency of chopped tomatoes is reached.

Place in a large saucepan.  Add seasoning and olive oil.  Bring to a boil and then turn the heat down and simmer for 20 minutes.

Cheesy Italian Bread

SURPRISE!

Seems like everyone loves bread.

Is that true?

One of my most popular recipes on my blog is the Cheesy Garlic Herb Bread.
Remember this one?

Oh yea...


So I got to thinking that we need to take this bread and mix it up a bit.  I've thought of tons of variations for this appetizer.  This time around I experimented with Italian flavors.  (the other variations will have to just wait...)


So I came up with a new wonder...this bread is sooooo good!  I mean, man! I could eat the whole thing, and that would bad....really bad.


So you remember that Sicilian Seasoning mix I posted yesterday?  Yeah...it's in the bread!  In the sauce I used specifically on the bread!  OH MY the flavors are OUTSTANDING!


So let's make this wondrous bread.  


Pick up a round loaf of bread, french or sourdough will do.  Slice the bread into 1 1/2" slices, but don't cut through to the bottom.  Now rotate the loaf and slice again in 1 1/2" slices, making sure they remain attached at the bottom.  Now you have a checkerboard looking sliced bread.

Place your loaf on a pan, covered with foil if you like to reduce the clean up.  In a separate bowl dump a bottle of your favorite marinara sauce.  I used a tomato basil sauce.  To that you need to add about 4-5 Tablespoons of the Sicilian Seasoning.  (click here for the recipe).  This is a secret, as it has a little bit of red pepper flakes to give it a zing!  Stir the two together.

Gently spread the sauce into the cracks of the bread.  Make sure to do all sides, horizontal and vertical, of the bread.  

Next, stuff the mozzarella cheese into the cracks.  Use your judgement on the amount of cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until the bread is toasty on top and all the cheese is melted.


NOTE:  You will need to eat this right away....I don't think this will be a problem though.  However, if you tend to leave it sitting out for a long period of time like I did and then go back to it in hopes of having some more, or wanting to store any leftovers for another day....Nuh Uh!  So sad, but due to the large amount of sauce, the bread gets soggy.  If you like that sort of thing then you'll be in heaven...but me..no soggy bread for me.
So just try and eat it hot, and soon after you make it.




Yummy!

Cheesy Gooey!

Heaven!  Need I say more?

Hope you liked your surprise!

Cheesy Italian Bread


1 round loaf of French or Sourdough bread
1 bottle of marinara sauce
4 T Sicilian Seasoning
1 1/2 c Mozzarella cheese, shredded


Cut bread across horizontally into 1 1/2" slice, not cutting all the way through the bottom.  Cut bread vertically into 1 1/2" slices as well, not cutting all the way through to the bottom.


Mix the entire jar of marinara sauce with the Sicilian seasoning in a medium bowl.  Spread the sauce into the cracks of the bread covering all four sides.  Add cheese to the cracks, pushing down to cover all areas.


Place on a baking sheet covered with foil.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 min. until toasted and cheese is melted.


Linked to: Melt in your mouth Monday