Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Simple yet satisfying
--Orechiette with Sausage and Sweet Red Peppers



Orechiette with Sausage and Sweet Red Peppers
The Simpler The Better Sensational Italian Meals Copyright 2005

1 ¼ pounds sweet Italian sausage meat
1 ½ large red bell peppers
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
5 large garlic cloves
1 pound dried orechiette or other short pasta

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Break sausage into small pieces. Finely chop bell peppers.
2. Heat olive oil in large skillet over low heat. Add garlic and cook, turning frequently until golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Discard garlic. Increase heat to high. Add peppers and sausage. Cook, stirring occasionally, until all is lightly crisped and browned, about 10 minutes.
3. Cook pasta until al dente, about 12 minutes. Reserve ¼ cup cooking water, then drain. Return pasta to pot and stir in sausage and peppers. Add reserved water to sausage cooking pan and stir up brown residue over low heat. Add drippings to pasta and heat together over low heat 1 minute, stirring occasionally. Season with salt to taste. Serve hot and generously grind pepper over each plateful.
__________________

When I 'scheduled' this recipe, I forgot that orechiette is one of those pasta shapes that I can't find locally. I'll need to get more next time I visit my parents since their local store carries it. Instead, I used something labeled 'cappelletti' which are little hat-shaped pastas but not the meat filled cappelletti that were a huge treat in soup when I was growing up.

This was a simple dish but it was flavorful and didn't seem too heavy even though it was pasta and sausage. Somehow leaving out the tomato sauce makes it seem almost light.

I feel like I'm in a rut. We eat several different proteins - beef, chicken, turkey, pork, fish - but it still feels like we eat the same thing over and over. I'm eating fine and enjoy food but I don't find myself craving anything lately except more of those Black and White Cupcakes. Usually, I end up throwing out most of anything sweet I make (with just two adults and a 4-year old here to indulge) but those cupcakes flew out of here. They only made 12 so I guess that helped. There is one left and I think we'll be fighting over it.

Blast From The Past: Spicy-Sweet Pork Tenderloin from June 2007. I'm trying to think of something to make with pork tenderloin next week. I can't find any new recipes so maybe I'll make that one again.

Question of the Day: What did you have for dinner the past five days, basically speaking (chicken, fish, pork, cheese, eggs, beans, etc)?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not for me (I'm on a regimen), but for the family:
Last night - beef (sausage)
Night before - pork

Since my brain is deprived of power because of my diet, I can't remember beyond that. ;)

Jan

Wanda said...

Wednesday - Beef (steak)
Tuesday - Veg./Cheese (chili rellenos
Monday - Chicken
...can't remember more...

sandy said...

That actually sounds pretty good, although I don't eat a lot of pork.

We had beef this week and chicken. Crockpost roast beef for sandwiches.

s

M Smith said...

Well, we do eat a lot of chicken. But there was a series of recipes in Cooking Light 2 years ago that really gave me 8 ways to make chicken that was quick, full of flavor and generally things that I have on hand (with exception to one or two of the recipes.) Anyway, I usually go to them as my 'go to' recipes for chicken (and I found they work for Pork as well) when I'm looking for something different.
Cooking Light's Chicken with 8 simple Sauces from January 2005

Anonymous said...

Beef last night.
Crab the night before.
Saltines for the three nights before that (I had the flu :(

Randi said...

Sat- out to eat, Indian, mostly vegetarian,
Sun- scrambled eggs, bagel
Mon- turkey burgers
tues- chicken parmesan
wend- chicken stirfry.

Since we dont eat meat, it limits us even more.

Anonymous said...

philly cheesesteak
pot roast
ham steak
fajitas
beef stew bake