Tired. Hungry. Cook Like an Italian. Make Pasta with Sausages

Eating well is one of life's great pleasures. The other night I made a simple dish that can become more complex, depending on your preferences and ambition. Sautéed sausages and spaghetti tossed with cooked pasta and topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese can be that easy. Delicious! 

For added flavor I also sautéed chopped onions, Italian parsley and shiitake mushrooms. With a little more energy I could have added broccoli florets sliced thin and tomato sauce and that's what I will do next time I make the dish. 

Earlier in the day I had made ground pork meatballs with an egg, bread crumbs, chopped an Italian parsley and chopped onions. I added those at the end because, why not? Sausages and meatballs together on pasta, come on, that's crazy delicious!

A couple of general suggestions. 

For the spaghetti (or penne or fussili) buy a high quality Italian brand. I love Borella. The pasta has a clean taste, with a good bite.

For the sausages, you can use any kind of sausage you like. I prefer pork suasages with fennel made by Monte Carlo (3103 W. Magnolia Blvd Burbank CA 91505), an Italian deli in the San Fernando Valley. That's a long drive from where we live in Pacific Palisades, but when I am already in the Valley, I'll stock up and buy five pounds. 

I'm not going to eat five pounds of sausages all at once. Freezing keeps them "fresh" and available. To freeze the sausages, I dredge each sausage in olive oil, then I wrap each sausage in plastic wrap before placing the wrapped sausages into a sealable plastic bag. Even months later, the sausages taste fresh and delicious. 

There are many ways to saute the sausage. My preference is to first remove the casing, then using my fingers, I create quarter sized chunks of sausage. That way each piece of sausage has a crisp outside. Use a carbon steel or cast iron frying pan for best results. 

The recipe is for one. If you want to make the dish for two, double the ingredients and so on for as many people as you like. 

Pasta with Italian Sausage 

Serves one

Time to cook 25 minutes

Ingredients 

1 Italian sausage or any sausage you enjoy 

1/4 package of pasta, any shape you enjoy 

2 tablespoons chopped yellow onions, washed, peel removed 

2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley, washed, leaves only 

2 large shiitake mushrooms or a mushroom you enjoy, washed, end of the stem removed, thin sliced 

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, a good quality brand, preferably from Italy 

1 teaspoon kosher salt, preferably Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, do not use any salt that has iodine 

1 garlic clove, washed, peeled, finely chopped (optional) 

1/4 cup pasta water, reserved from cooking the pasta

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 

Directions 

Place a large carbon steel or cast iron frying pan on a medium flame. 

Add 1 tablespoon olive oil. 

Sauté the chunks of sausage without the casing until browned on all sides. Remove from the pan. Drain on a paper towel on a plate. 

Discard the oil in the pan. 

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Heat on a medium flame. 

Add the vegetables. Sauté until lightly browned. 

Return the cooked sausages to the pan. Remove from the heat and set aside. 

Fill a large pot with water. Season with kosher salt. Place on the stove on high heat. Bring to a boil. 

Add pasta and stir well to prevent the pieces of pasta sticking together. 

Cook 10 minutes or until al dente. 

As you drain the pasta in the sink, capture 1/4 cup of pasta water. 

Add the pasta water and cooked pasta to the sautéed vegetables.  Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the pasta and vegetables.

Heat on a medium flame. 

Toss well and reduce the liquid so the sauce coats the pasta. Plate the pasta and top with freshly grated cheese. Serve hot.

Celebrate the Oscars and All Special Events with a Pisco Sour (don't have Pisco, use Vodka or Mezcal)

I like watching the Oscars because it's a celebration of filmmaking, one of the world's greatest art forms. We'll watch the Red Carpet beforehand hoping to catch sight of our oldest son who represents one of the actors who is in contention. And, we'll watch the ceremony in real time. No pausing because we know our smart phones will be buzzing all through the ceremony sending us updates about who won for which category. 

So I spent today cooking. I made carrot salad with almonds and golden raisins soaked in rice wine vinegar and seasoned with black pepper. I also made Yukon potato salad with charred corn, carrots and parsley. And Cole slaw with green cabbage, carrots, chopped roasted almonds and the golden raisins, tossed in a sauce of equal parts mayonnaise and sour cream and a splash of rice wine vinegar. 

Tomorrow I will either make brown sugar spare ribs and kimchi chicken wings or fried chicken with honey-butter topping. 

I'll definitely open some of the clams I picked up at Whole Foods to take advantage of their 12 for $12 every Friday sale. I've been enjoying them with classic cocktail sauce and with a recipe I'm working on, a Viet-Chinese style sauce made with fish sauce, water, sugar, finely chopped shallots and lime juice. 

I top off the oysters with the sauce and a few cilantro leaves that I've deep fried and with a few tasty bits of fried prosciutto fat for crunch.

To toast the winners, I'll make a Pisco Sour, a drink that I had when we stayed at Hotel Jakarta Amsterdam. In the lovely Malabar at the top of the hotel with a view of Amsterdam across the River IJ, mixologist Tyrone Sullivan and bar manager Tarik showed me how they prepare their Pisco Sour.

Since I've been home, I've made the cocktail dozens of times. It's that delicious. Finding Pisco in Los Angeles isn't easy, so when I don't have Pisco, I use vodka or Mezcal instead. The taste difference is negligible. 

So, here it is, the best drink recipe you'll ever try at home and the one I recommend you make when you have something (like the Oscars!) to celebrate. 

All the best and, as the ad says, drink responsibly.

PISCO SOUR

Serves 1

Ingredients

2 ounces pisco

1 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed

1/2 ounce simple syrup (made with equal parts water and white sugar - see below)

1 egg white (save the egg yolk to have for breakfast)

Garnish: Angostura bitters

Directions

To make simple syrup is, well, "simple." Since you can keep the syrup in the refrigerator for an indefinitely amount of time, make enough to use for many cocktails.

Place 1 cup white sugar in a small sauce pan. Carefully hand 1 cup of water. Do not stir. Allow the mixture to heat on a low flame until the sugar dissolves. Cool and place into a jar or bottle and reserve in the refrigerator.

Place the egg white, Pisco (vodka or Mezcal), simple syrup and freshly squeezed lime juice into a shaker. With the lid and top on, do a "dry" shake (which means you don't add ice). Holding the top and lid on, shake vigorously 25-30 times. Shaking caused the egg white to froth, which creates gas which will pop off the top if you don't hold on tightly.

Open the top to relieve the pressure, then open the shaker and add 4 ice cubes. Put the lid and top back on and vigorously shake again.

To serve, either pour into a martini style glass or into a large glass filled with ice. Drizzle a few drops of Angostura bitters.