Fusilly
Probably a bad thing to have a picture of Michael Richards on my site but whenever I hear the term fusilli, I think of this episode of Seinfeld.
If you haven't been reading this blog for the last year you probably haven't noticed how big pasta nuts that my wife and I are. Generally we have at least one Italian meal a week and that's all right by me. Lately it seems that Jenn is shying away from traditional American view of Italian food (red sauces and noodles) and branching out into what else the country is known for.
The reason Jenn found this dish was because we had some sweet Italian sausage leftover from a previous recipe and it was really good sausage so we didn't want it to go to waste. The Italian deli we frequent makes their own sausage fresh and it is really the best sausage that I have ever had. Most sausage are a mix between ground meat and spices and one of the most common spices in Italian sausage is fennel seeds. I have found that in most sausage the fennel seeds are like little stones and I just figured that fennel seeds were tough. That was until I had Lucci's sausage and didn't have to pick rock hard seeds out of my teeth. I don't plan on ever buying the mass produced crap ever again now.
Fusilli with Sausage, Artichokes, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
3/4 cup drained oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, sliced, 2 tablespoons of oil reserved
1 pound Italian hot sausages, casings removed
2 (8-ounce) packages frozen artichoke hearts
2 large cloves garlic, chopped
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
16 ounces fusilli pasta
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan, plus additional for garnish
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
8 ounces water-packed fresh mozzarella, drained and cubed, optional
Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Heat the oil reserved from the tomatoes in a heavy large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the sausages and cook until brown, breaking up the meat into bite-size pieces with a fork, about 8 minutes. Transfer the sausage to a bowl. Add the artichokes and garlic to the same skillet, and sauté over medium heat until the garlic is tender, about 2 minutes. Add the broth, wine, and sun-dried tomatoes. Boil over medium-high heat until the sauce reduces slightly, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the fusilli in boiling water until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Drain the pasta (do not rinse). Add the pasta, sausage, 1/2 cup Parmesan, basil, and parsley to the artichoke mixture. Toss until the sauce is almost absorbed by the pasta. Stir in the mozzarella. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Serve, passing the additional Parmesan cheese alongside.
Chef Note: We could not find frozen artichoke hearts so had to settle for can ones that we rinsed well. Personally I think the frozen ones would have gone better with the whole dish and we will have to keep an eye out for them for the next time we make this. Also, instead of hot sausage we used sweet Italian sausage.
Good stuff. I finished off the leftovers all by myself. Most likely we could have cut the recipe in half and still had leftovers. When discussing the meal with Jenn I told her that the leftovers I had were good luke warm as well so I was thinking that this would be a good replacement for the traditional pasta salad at a get together.