Orecchette with Carmelized Garlic, Sausage and Broccoli
(from MethodicalImprov’s recipe box)
Serves 4 people
Categories: meat, pasta, salad, vegetable
Ingredients
- 10 oz broccoli crowns
- 1/2 c extra-vergin olive oil
- 3/4 lb sweet Italian sausage, skinned and crumbled into 1 inch pieces
- 3 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
- salt
- pepper
- 1 can julian cut sun-dried tomatoes
- 1 T chopped fresh thyme
- 3/4 lb dried orecchiette or penne
- 1 T lemon juice
- 3 T shredded parmesagne cheese
- 3 scallions
Directions
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Salt and boil water in a large pot.
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Fill a large bowl with cold water.
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Blanch the broccoli in the boiling water until it softens to a tender crunch, 1 or 2 minutes. Transfer it to the bowl of cold water.
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Heat 2 T of the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat for 1 minute.
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Add sausage and saute, stirring until it browns and is just cooked through, about 6 minutes.
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Transfer to a plate.
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Put the pasta in the water.
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Reduce heat under the skillet to medium low.
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Add the remaining 2 T of oil and garlic. Season with salt and cook, flipping the pieces occasionally, until they start to brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Raise the heat to high, drain the broccoli, add to teh skillet, along with the sausage. Cook until everything is heated through, about 1 minutes. Stir in the sun dried tomatoes and thyme.
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Finish cooking the pasta until its tender, about 10 minutes total.
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Reserve 1 c of poasta water.
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Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet with the broccoli.
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Raise the heat to high and toss well for 30 seconds.
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If the pasta appears dry, add 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water.
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Stir in the lemon juice, parmesagn and scallions.
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Add more, salt, pepper or lemon juice to taste.