Ricotta on Top Rigatoni

Ricotta on Top Rigatoni

Serves: 4-6

OBJ: TCW be able to sneak chicken sausage into her husband’s dinner

Ingredients:

½ lb rigatoni pasta or any tube-shaped small-medium sized pasta

1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes in thick puree

1 28 ounce can whole peeled tomatoes in thick puree

1 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

½ medium onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

½ C dry red wine

10-15 fresh basil leaves, torn

1 12-ounce package Johnsonville Chicken Sausage: 3 Cheese Italian style, sliced into about ¼ in. rounds

¼ C extra virgin olive oil

1 C whole milk ricotta cheese

S & P, salt and pepper

Procedures:

1. Boil a large pot of water for pasta and make according to package directions

2. Meanwhile, in a large and deep sauté pan or Dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat

3. Add chicken sausage, stir frequently, and allow to brown, about 10-15 minutes

4. Remove sausage from pan, place aside. Spoon out about 1 TBS oil from drippings and discard

5. Add onions, garlic, parsley, red pepper flakes and a generous pinch of S & P to pan, lower heat to medium-low. Allow vegetables to soften and cook, stir frequently to scrape up “bits” from sausage, about 10 minutes

6. Add wine, turn up the flame and bring to boil, and then reduce heat to simmer and let wine reduce, again scraping up “bits”, about 5 minutes total

7. Add both cans of tomatoes and sausage back to pan, another pinch S & P, turn up flame and bring to boil

8. Cover pan and reduce heat to low and let simmer for 15-20 minutes

9. Turn off flame, stir in fresh basil

10. Add pasta to sauté pan and mix well

11. After plating each portion, spoon about ¼ C dollop of ricotta on top of each serving, enjoy!

****This makes a considerable amount of sauce, in the next few days you will see I used that for pizza, however you can freeze it or cut the recipe in ½.***