You Don’t Have To Be A Professional Chef To Get The BEST Flavors In Your Pasta

One thing I love about this recipe is that you can do all the browning in a pan but then put the whole thing in a crock pot, turn it on low and in 4 hours, you have something that could NEVER come out of a jar or be rushed on the stove top.

Sweet And Spicy Sausage Ragu

Ingredients

• 2 onions, cut into 1-inch dice
• 1 small fennel bulb, tops and tough middle stalk removed, bulb cut into 1-inch dice
• 2 celery ribs, cut into 1-inch dice
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt
• 2 cups tomato paste
• 2 cups hearty red wine
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
• 1 pound spicy Italian sausage, casings removed
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 thyme bundle, tied with butcher’s twine
• 1 pound spaghetti
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
•  Oil, for drizzling

Directions:

1. Put the onions, fennel, celery and garlic in a food processor and purée to a coarse paste.
2. Coat the bottom of a wide, deep pan with olive oil, add the puréed veggies, season with salt and cook over medium-high heat until all the liquid has evaporated and the veggies begin to stick to the pan. The Browning part is VERY important.
3. Stir occasionally to scrape up the brown bits then let the crud form again.
4.  Add the tomato paste, stirring to combine for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add the wine, stir to combine and scrape up any remaining brown bits; cook until about half the wine has evaporated, 4-5 minutes.
6. Add both the sweet and spicy sausage. Use a spoon to break it up, and cook thoroughly.
7. Add enough water to the pan to cover the meat by about half an inch.
8. Add bay leaves and the thyme bundle. Stir.
9. Season with salt.
10. Bring the sauce to a boil and reduce to a summer.
11. Continue cooking, checking occasionally, for 3 hours, tasting, seasoning and adding more water as needed.
12. During the last half hour of the cooking process, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil.
13. Add the pasta and cook for 1 minute less than the instructions on the package suggest.
14.  Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.
15. Remove the thyme bundle and bay leaf from the sauce.
16. Then remove half of the ragù from the pan and reserve.
17. Immediately add the cooked pasta to the pan with the ragù or pasta water if needed;
18. continue cooking for another couple of minutes, until the pasta and sauce cling together and the liquid has reduced.
19. Remove the pot from the heat and add the Parmigiano.

Quick Tip: Put remaining sauce in freezer for later. OR make a batch of this up and put in mason jars to give as a housewarming gift.

Recipe adapted from from COOK LIKE A ROCK STAR by Anne Burrell. Image courtesy of Kick and Dinner.