Cavatappi Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes and Cream

Do you like to use fun shaped pasta? I do which is exactly why I bought a bag of Cavatappi Pasta. Who can resist those cute shapes? Don't you love it!

We thoroughly enjoy pasta any way, shape or form and could easily eat pasta several times a week but we don't. My husband is diabetic so I do have to watch the carbohydrates and sugars so maybe we'll have pasta once a month. And I always make his portion with Whole Wheat pasta which is a bit better for him.

I found the Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes and Cream on a cooking forum years ago and I believe it is my favorite pasta to date. I do make it with my Homemade Sausage but you can use any brand of Sweet Italian Sausage.





Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes and Cream

2 TBL Olive Oil
1 LB Sweet Italian Sausage sweet
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (I use 1/4 tsp Hot Hungarian Paprika)
4-5 Green Onions, diced
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 28-ounce can Italian diced tomatoes
1 1/2 c whipping cream (I use light cream)
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 lb shaped pasta
3 TBL fresh minced Basil

Topping: Freshly grated Parmesan cheese and sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley

Heat oil in large heavy skillet over medium heat. Remove casings from sausage, crumble and cook in oil with crushed pepper until sausage is no longer pink, about 7 minutes.

Add onion and garlic and cook another 5-7 minutes until tender. Drain tomatoes, chop coarsely and stir into sausage along with cream, salt and basil. Simmer until mixture thickens slightly, about 4 minutes.

In a separate pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta al dente. Drain pasta and add to simmering sauce. Garnish with Parmesan and parsley.

Enjoy!







All Rights Reserved 2008-10 © BigBlackDog

Stuffed Giant Yellow Squash!

When I was at the Wisconsin Garlic Farm last week the owner, Mike, gave my husband a giant yellow squash! As soon as I saw it I thought "what the heck am I going to do with this?" But I was leaving to visit my family in Ohio so cooking, not even a gorgeous squash, was not on my agenda...out of sight, out of mind!



Here's Tinkerbelle checking out the squash which is almost as big as she is!


But upon returning home, not only was there a giant squash sitting on my kitchen counter but Mr. Tastebuds had picked about five dozen tomatoes. Something needed to be done with these vegetables!

So I decided to stuff the yellow squash and set to work making some stuffing with our home grown tomatoes and my homemade Italian Sausage. The Stuffed Squash was wonderfully delicious and I will most definitely be making this recipe again!






Stuffed Giant Yellow Squash
Recipe developed by Big Black Dog

1 large squash or several medium sized squash, split and cleaned of seeds
1/2 lb Italian Sausage, cut into small pieces, fried and drained
3 cloves of garlic (I used Kettle River Giant Garlic)
2 TBL EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
2 TBL balsamic vinegar
4-5 pieces of bread torn into 1" pieces, toasted
5-6 medium sized tomatoes, remove the seeds and cut into chunks
8-10 fresh Basil leaves, minced
3-4 sprigs of fresh Tarragon, minced
4-5 green onions, chopped including the tops
1/4 c. shredded Parmesan
1/2 c. shredded Mozzarella

Tear up the bread into 1" pieces. Spread out the bread cubes on a baking sheet and put it in the oven at 200 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the bread is completely dried out.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Horizontally slice the squash and clean out all the seeds. Discard the seeds and set the cleaned squash on a parchment or aluminum foil lined baking sheet. Set aside.

Cut sausage into bite sized pieces and fry just until you can see no pink. Drain on paper towels. Set aside.

In a small frying pan add the EVOO and heat to a low simmer. Place 3 cloves of garlic into EVOO and saute slowly until just golden brown. Remove garlic to a cutting board and smash with a fork. Set garlic and EVOO aside.

While the garlic is simmering, put a large frying pan on medium low heat and add the tomatoes. Simmer until there almost all the liquid is gone. Add the sausage, basil, tarragon, garlic and green onions and mix well. Stir in the EVOO and toasted bread crumbs.




Fill the squash cavity half full with the tomato/sausage mix. Sprinkle some of the cheese and drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Mound up the rest of the stuffing mix in the cavity and drizzle with the remaining Balsamic Vinegar.

Put the stuffed squash in the oven and bake for at least an hour or until the squash is soft. When the squash is soft, sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. When the cheese is completely melted, remove the squash and serve.







All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

Whisk Wednesday -- Pintadeaux au Chou

This week for Whisk Wednesdays we made Pintadeaux au Chou or Guinea Hen with Cabbage. I was just not sure if I would like this recipe or not but I knew my husband would love it. I'm not a fan of multiple meat stew like recipes but I trudged forward and was very pleasantly surprised. I really, really liked this recipe. The polish sausage stewed along with the cabbage and hens was just delicious!!!

This is not a difficult dish to make. I thought it would take me 2 hours but in reality it took me 1 1/2 hours which is not bad. Due to the fact that we have to cut back on expenses I substituted Cornish Game Hens for the Guinea Hens but that was the only change I made.

Prepare the bacon by cutting each strip into 1/4" strips. Put the small strips into a small sauce pan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 1 minute. Drain, refresh under cold water and drain again. In a small frying pan melt 1 TBL of butter. Add the drained small pieces of bacon and fry until crispy. Drain on paper towels.

Prepare the Hens by washing in cold water and stuffing with 1 garlic clove, 1 bay leave and 1 sprig of Thyme and salt and pepper. Then rub the exterior with softened butter and season with salt and pepper. Truss the hens and pop them in the oven for about 30 minutes at 425 degrees.

Blanch the cabbage, then rinse in cold water and set aside. Over medium heat melt butter and add oil to a large casserole (I used a large frying pan). Add the onion and saute until soft. Add the carrots and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add 2 1/2 c. water. Add the cooled cabbage and Bouquet Garni and salt and pepper. Slice the sausage on a diagonal and add it to the casserole. Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for about 1 hour.

Add the drained bacon to the casserole. Cut the polish sausage on a diagonal and add the slices to the casserole.

When the hens are out of the oven, carefully put them into the casserole, nestling them in with the cabbage, carrots and sausage. Deglaze the roasting pan by adding 1 1/2 c. water and add to the casserole. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes.






Pintadeaux au Chou
Recipe adapted from Le Cordon Bleu

1 medium head green cabbage
2 TBL vegetable oil
4 TBL butter
1 large onion, sliced
3/4 lb carrots, sliced
1 Bouquet Garni
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 lb bacon, sliced

2 Guinea hens, 2 lbs each
2 cloves garlic
2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1/4 tsp dried
2 bay leaves
2 TBL softened butter
3/4 lb Polish Sausage






For our Whisk Wednesdays Post Tail we are all posting our favorite plates. I decided to post my bread plates. Well, I do usually serve bread on these plates but they also work well as small platters too. The plates range from 6-9" by 12-16".

The 2 dishes on the far left, were supposed to be a gift. I could not decide between the 2 and just bought both. I then bought something else for the gift! ;)

It is very difficult for me to pass up any unique shaped serving dish! And it looks like I like polka dots!










All Rights Reserved 2008-9 © Big Black Dog

My "fall back" Linguine Sauce

Everyone has those "fall back" recipes that are quick, easy and always turn out delicious. I started making this Linguine sauce when we were in our temporary kitchen during our construction. We ate quite a bit of soup and pasta while we were living in our basement.

For the first few months of our construction, we had a hot plate and the refrigerator and that's it. No sink except a bathroom sink located on the first floor. So every night I had to run upstairs with dirty dishes and wash them in the sink and the drying rack was on our clothes hamper!

As the construction progressed, the temporary kitchen moved in the new basement laundry room. No oven but I graduated to 2 hot plates, a toaster oven, deep fryer and my slow cooker. And I could roll out dough on top of the washer and dryer and believe it or not, twice I canned jelly!!! All in all, we were in the temporary kitchen for 1 year and 3 months which is not too bad but it was a long time without an oven. And going through major holidays with no cookies was terrible!! Of course my family sent me cookies but it was not the same.

While in construction I made my fall back linguine sauce at least every 2 weeks. I moved in my new kitchen in Aug/Sept '07 and I still my sauce at least once a month. It's delicious and easy.



Michelle's Linguine with Red Sauce
Recipe developed in the kitchen of Big-Black-Dog

1 lb linguine
1/2 lb mild Italian sausage **See note
1/2 can good quality Italian Plum Tomatoes (5-6 whole tomatoes and juice)
3 TBL EVOO
2 TBL minced garlic
5-6 sun dried tomatoes, sliced thin
1 c. fresh basil, minced
2 sprigs of fresh tarragon, minced
1/2 tsp hot Hungarian paprika
1/2 c. fresh parsley, minced
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1/4 c. freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Break up sausage into bit-sized pieces. In a heavy bottomed pot, over low heat add EVOO and when it's warm add the Italian sausage and slowly fry until no pink remains. Turn down burner to simmer. At the same time, put water in your pasta pot and follow package directions to cook the pasta.

When the pasta is done and in the strainer, turn the burner to medium and add the tomatoes. Break up the tomatoes with a fork. Add the dried tomatoes, garlic, herbs, paprika and pepper and simmer for a few minutes. Add about 1/2 the juice from the can of tomatoes. Continue to simmer for about 5 minutes and then add the fresh chopped parsley and gently stir. Serve hot over linguine and sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Note: I use my homemade mild Italian sausage.






All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog

We're out of sausage again!

The other day I was making pasta and discovered that I had no more Italian sausage in my freezer. No problem...I'll just make some!

I've been making my own sausage for over a year now and I thoroughly enjoy it. And it's so easy and no special equipment is needed. All you need is a recipe, food processor, large mixing bowl, pork butt or shoulder, spices and herbs and you're good to go!



Italian Sweet Fennel Sausage
Recipe adapted from "Complete Sausage Book" by Bruce Aidell

3 lbs. pork butt
3/4 lb pork fat back **See Note
1/2 cup dry red wine
4 garlic cloves minced
2 T fennel seeds
1 T freshly ground black pepper
4 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp ground allspice

My additions:
1/4 c. dried basil or 1 c. fresh basil, finely minced

Cut pork and fat back into 1" cubes.



Place about 2 c. of pork cubes at a time in your food processor.



Pulse the food processor 3-4 times until the meat is roughly ground. Make sure you do not over process into mush!



In a large mixing bowl add ground pork, fat back, wine and all herbs and spices and mix thoroughly with your hands. I wear surgical gloves when using my hands to mix this recipe, it saves me time and frankly I don't like to put my hands into raw meat!



Shape into patties and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet or sheet pan and lightly freeze.



Then pack patties into freezer bags. If you make several different kinds of sausage make sure that you label your freezer bags. I usually pack 2, 3 and 4 patties per bag, this way the portions are according to how I use them; 2 patties are for breakfast, 3 and 4 patties are usually for a pasta dish of some sort.

Note: Fat Back is not easy to find but I'm lucky and my market generally stocks it. But if you can't find it you can substitute some bacon or just skip it. With out the fat back your sausage will be leaner but not as tasty.

BTW, if you're watching your fat intake, there are chicken and turkey sausage recipes that are out of the this world delicious. I made a Chicken Apple Fennel Sausage and it was gone within a month!




All Rights Reserved 2008 © Big Black Dog