One day last week my sister and I spent a good part of the day making our own sausages from scratch. My brother in law works for a food supplier and he has the opportunity to buy certain things in bulk at a discount. He had brought home 20 pounds of ground pork and we knew it was time to make sausages again!
Some it was frozen to make our Christmas Tortiere, at a later date, but most of it we used to make sausages. This was not our first rodeo when it came to making sausages. I like to think we are getting much better at it with practice!
It took us most of the day but we made three different kinds of sausage this time. A cumberland, an apple and some sweet Italian. Some of the Italian we linked and some of it we left as bulk sausage to use in sauces and on pizza.
There was a delicious recipe on Taste of Home that I wanted to try with some of the bulk sausage meat for a pasta dish. Creamy Italian Sausage with Bow Ties. It was a contest winner and posted by Janelle Moore from Auburn Washington.
I took the liberty of cutting the original recipe in half as I am only one person. I used some of the bulk Italian sausage we had made and I was really pleased with the end result! It came out hearty and delicious with just the right ratio of pasta to sauce.
The sauce was rich and creamy, with lovely chunks of sweet tomato and plump bits of nicely spiced sausage meat. It was very, very nice!
If you have never tried making your own sausage meat, I highly recommend that you try it. The end result is much more delicious than anything you might buy at the shops. In the case of the bulk Italian sausage you don't need to pop it into casings.
In fact you don't need to put any sausage into casings if you don't want to. Sausage patties are every bit as nice as regular sausages! The recipe we used for the Italian sausage came from a blog called Spend with Pennies and I can tell you, it is very nice. Very nice indeed. We have also enjoyed it on Pizza!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE CREAMY ITALIAN SAUSAGE WITH BOW TIES
Some pretty basic store cupboard ingredients. The proper name for bow tie pasta is Farfalle.
- 8 ounces (227g/2 cups) bow tie pasta
- 1/2 pound bulk Italian Sausage
- 1/4 cup (1/2 small) peeled and chopped onion
- 1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and minced
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 can (14 1/2 oz/411g) stewed Italian tomatoes, drained and chopped
- 3/4 cup (180ml) whipping cream
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/8 tsp dried basil
- grated Parmesan cheese to serve (optional)
This was the perfect recipe for me to use as we had divided the Italian sausage meat into 1/2 pound lots. Ours was sweet Italian sausage, but you could use hot Italian sausage if you prefer.
My farfalle was a brand called La Molisana. It was really cute. It looked like the edges had been pinked with pinking sheers and there were ridges along the surface on the top side. All the better to grab onto sauces.
I did not have any stewed Italian tomatoes. I had only chopped tomatoes, so I added a bit of Italian seasoning to make up for that. You can taste and adjust the seasoning as required.
The amount of red pepper flakes you use will, of course, depend on whether you are using sweet Italian sausage or hot Italian sausage. If your sausage is already hot, you might want to tone it down a bit.
In the U.K. I know you can get Italian sausage at Costco. If you cannot find Italian sausage just use the best spicy pork sausage meat that you can get. It will still be delicious.
HOW TO MAKE CREAMY ITALIAN SAUSAGE WITH BOW TIES
Nothing could be simpler to make or quicker. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Cook the pasta to al dente according to the package directions, drain well.While the pasta is cooking, crumble the sausage into a deep heavy bottomed skillet. Add the onion and pepper flakes. Scramble fry over medium heat until the sausage is no longer pink and is beginning to brown. Add the garlic and cook, stirring for about a minute longer.
Stir in the tomatoes, cream and basil. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for a further 6 to 8 minutes until thickened. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and black pepper.
Stir in the cooked pasta, tossing to coat the pasta thoroughly with the sauce. Gently heat through.Serve the pasta hot with Cheese sprinkled over top, if desired.
This was really, really, REALLY good! The sauce was rich and flavorful. There was the perfect ratio of sauce to pasta. The quickness and ease of preparation, plus the deliciousness of it means that I will make this again for sure.
I might even double it to make when my family is visiting as I think they would really enjoy it as well, plus the fact that it goes together quickly is a bonus, which is something you need when you have a lot of family around.
I served this with some crusty bread and a salad. Garlic bread would also go very well!
We love pasta here in The English Kitchen. If you are a huge fan of pasta then you might also enjoy the following recipes:
MARTHA STEWARTS ONE PAN PASTA - Not only is this delicious (as one might expect from Martha) but it's easy. Everything literally cooks in the one pan, the pasta, sauce, etc. I have taken the liberty of down-sizing it for the smaller family. No fuss, no muss . . . no faffing about with having to drain this or that . . . the water, tomatoes, etc. condense along with the starch from the cooking pasta to create a delicious sauce.
CHEESY TUNA SKILLET PASTA -This is a fabulously tasty skillet meal. It goes together really quickly and is done in about 15 minutes time maximum. While it is cooking you can be putting together a nice salad to serve on the side. Easy peasy. It's like your favorite Tuna Casserole, or Tuna Helper I guess. Cooked on top of the stove, all in one dish. Again, no fuss, no muss.
Yield: 3Author: Marie Rayner
Italian Sausage with Bow Ties
Cook time: 25 MinTotal time: 25 MinA delicious pasta dish that comes together quickly and easily. No fuss, no muss, which makes it a perfect weeknight supper. Sized for the smaller family but very easily doubled.Ingredients
- 8 ounces (227g/2 cups) bow tie pasta
- 1/2 pound bulk Italian Sausage
- 1/4 cup (1/2 small) peeled and chopped onion
- 1 fat clove of garlic, peeled and minced
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 can (14 1/2 oz/411g) stewed Italian tomatoes, drained and chopped
- 3/4 cup (180ml) whipping cream
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 1/8 tsp dried basil
- grated Parmesan cheese to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Cook the pasta to al dente according to the package directions, drain well.
- While the pasta is cooking, crumble the sausage into a deep heavy bottomed skillet. Add the onion and pepper flakes. Scramble fry over medium heat until the sausage is no longer pink and is beginning to brown. Add the garlic and cook, stirring for about a minute longer.
- Stir in the tomatoes, cream and basil. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for a further 6 to 8 minutes until thickened. Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and black pepper.
- Stir in the cooked pasta, tossing to coat the pasta thoroughly with the sauce. Gently heat through.
- Serve the pasta hot with Cheese sprinkled over top, if desired.
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