Spaghetti with Sausage-Mushroom Sauce

This was another one of those meals that taste ultimately won over the photo.  If I didn’t love this meal sooo much, I would probably hold off from posting it until I was able to get a better photo.  There’s just something about pasta with red sauce that doesn’t photo well for me, not sure why that is, but it just doesn’t.  Oh well, enough about the picture and my whining, let’s talk about the recipe.

These is another recipe that is fairly quick to assemble making it perfect for a weeknight meal.  It may seem like there’s quite a few steps but it really consist of boiling pasta (easy and effortless) and browning meat.  Those are the two most time consuming steps and the process doesn’t require your undivided making it easy to multitask.  This simple meal was packed with tons of flavor thanks to the various elements.  The Italian sausage added so much flavor and since I chose the to use the spicy variety, it lent some spice to the dish, as well.  The rosemary added a nice earthy element that really helped to brighten up the dish.  The sauce was a simple reduction of tomato sauce, cream and water; that thickened up perfectly and added just the right amount of creaminess to this dish.  The sweetness of the tomato sauce helped to cut through some of the spice from the sausage making them a perfect combination of flavor.

All of the elements worked wonderfully together; sweet, spicy, earthy and creamy.  This meal was packed full of flavor in every bite.  We loved everything about this meal.  It could easily be served alone, but to up the veggie power a nice, simple green salad could easily accompany this meal.  Spencer was so impressed with this meal; he even said he would pay for it if it were on the menu at a restaurant…he obviously thought it was that good!      

Spaghetti with Sausage-Mushroom Sauce

Ingredients:

Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
12 oz spaghetti
3 Tsp olive oil
3/4 Pounds Italian sausage(sweet or spicy), casings removed
1 (8oz) package baby bella mushrooms, sliced
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tsp fresh Rosemary, chopped
1/4 Cup heavy cream
Shredded (or grated) parmesan cheese, for topping (optional)

Directions:

Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil.  Liberally salt boiling water and add pasta.  Cook according to package instructions, reserve one cup pasta water, drain the pasta and set aside.

Meanwhile, place a large skillet over medium heat add one teaspoon olive oil to the pan and heat.  Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, until browned, about 5 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, remove meat from pan onto a paper towel lined plate and set aside.

Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil to the skillet and place over medium-high heat.  Place the mushrooms in the hot skillet, season with salt and pepper and cook until lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes.  Stir in the rosemary and tomato paste and cook for an additional minute.  Return the sausage to the skillet and stir to combine.  Add the cream and one 1 cup of water, stir and bring to a gentle simmer and cook until thickened, about 8-10 minutes.  Adjust seasoning accordingly.

Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat.  Add reserved pasta water, to loosen, if needed.  Top with parmesan cheese and serve.   

Recipe source: Food Network Magazine