30 minutes
Serves 5
Ingredients:
16 oz. orecchiette pasta
1 pound Sicilian Chicken Sausage (Mild Italian sausage also works well)
8 Tbsp. butter
10-12 fresh sage leaves, chopped
6 oz. tomato paste
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups half and half (whole milk is fine too)
1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese (crumbled gorgonzola cheese works well too)
Make Dinner:
Boil 4 quarts of water in a large pasta pot. Add 2 Tbsp. sea salt to water. Boil pasta according to package directions, about 12 minutes.
While pasta is cooking, saute whole sausage links in a large frying pan over medium high heat for 10 minutes or until sausage is browned and cooked through. Remove sausage from pan and set aside.
Reduce heat to medium. Place butter in frying pan and melt completely. Add sage and stir well. Allow butter to simmer for 8-10 minutes until just golden brown, stirring frequently. Do not overcook butter! Add tomato paste and mix well to combine. Add white wine and half and half. Reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for 5 minutes until sauce is creamy.
While sauce is simmering, cut Italian sausage on the diagonal into 1/4 inch thick slices. Add to sauce. Drain pasta and add to sauce. Toss pasta with sausage and sauce. Serve immediately topped with freshly grated parmigiano reggiano or gorgonzola cheese.