Mia Cucina Pazzo - Rigatoni with Sausage Cream Sauce

I enjoy Italian food to much.  If  I’m not cooking and eating Italian food, I’m writing about it.  Over the years I have created and recreated some great dishes in ’’My Crazy Kitchen” and through trial and error have developed some pretty good dishes.

Pasta has always been a family favorite.  It’s economical, very easy to make and seems to get everybody’s attention.  Nothing brings a family together like a great pasta dish.  Over the years I’ve been asked on many occasions what my favorite pasta dish was besides the traditional spaghetti and meatballs.

Unfortunately I have cravings for any pasta recipe that contains butter, cream and parmesan cheese.  I know it’s not very healthy but it’s so good.  Pasta recipes like Fettuccine Alfredo or Spaghetti Carbonara are definitely top on my list.

But my absolute favorite cream sauce recipe has to be this Rigatoni with Sausage Cream Sauce.  While writing my book “Mia Cucina Pazzo”,  I had to include this recipe among the other nineteen pasta dishes in the book.  It’s rich and creamy and full of calories so you shouldn’t make this dish very often even though you’ll want to.

The other recipes in “Mia Cucina Pazzo” include some great seafood, beef, veal and chicken dishes that are a lot healthier for you.  But, just for the experience you should at least try this recipe once.  Just use a little self control and you should be okay.

When I make this recipe I use my homemade Italian sausage but your favorite sausage will work just fine.

Rigatoni with Sausage Cream Sauce

INGREDIENTS

1 pound of Rigatoni
1 pound of sausage, casing removed
2 Tbls of butter
1 bunch of long green onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
5 baby portabella mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup of white wine
1/2 cup of chicken broth
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
1 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup of fresh chopped Italian parsley


PREPARATION

Sauté the sausage in a separate pan breaking it up into little pieces..
Drain on a paper towel and set aside.
In a large skillet sauté the onions and garlic in the butter for around 2 minutes.
Add the mushrooms and sauté for another 2 minutes.
Stir in cooked sausage.
Deglaze the pan with the white wine.
Add the chicken broth and the cream and cook until bubbly.
Stir in the Parmesan cheese.
In 6 quarts of rapidly boiling water cook the pasta until al dente.  About 10 to 15 minutes.
Sprinkle the fresh chopped parsley on top.

NOTE: Drain the pasta and toss in the cream sauce.

NOTE: If you fit in any of your clothes after this dish then you’ve prepared it wrong.

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as I do.  I’ll try to be more health conscious in the future.  If I could just stay away form all that great tasting Italian bread that you have to have with any Italian dish.  It’s the law.

Enjoy!
Mangia Italiano