Eric's Other Fave Dish - Lina's Sausage & Red Wine Pasta

I watch Foodnetwork while I run on the treadmill at the gym.  It exasperates some of those around me - we're trying to stay in shape and lose weight, and this woman insists on watching a food channel. For cryin' out loud...

So I saw Giada make a fairly easy pasta dish, then watched Alton Brown make some kind of Bolognese sauce.  Since I'm not in the position to write anything down while I'm running 5-minute miles (okay, more like 10-minute miles), I get the gist of it all, then I try to replicate later.  Here is my version of the "Gialton" pasta dish.  Eric says it's one of his favorite dishes, so I must be doing something right.  

I start by browning some hot & spicy Italian sausage.  If it's not bacon making everything better, it's sausage.  That lovely little pig...


Then I throw in onions and carrots, let it all fuse into each other, allowing some caramelization, then I throw in mushrooms.  Salt, pepper, hot pepper flakes (no, I don't think this can be too spicy), and whatever other herbs you want to throw in, like a bay leaf, maybe, or some oregano, you know, your favorite herbs.  I just use dried because I have it around.  

Then I syringe in a can of tomato paste.  Syringe, you say?  Why yes, I use the can opener to open both sides of the can, remove one side, then use the other lid to plunge the tomato paste into the dish. It's clean, it's efficient, it's something I learned from an old engineering boyfriend of mine.  


Then I let the tomato paste cook until it's a dark brick red color.  Alton Brown says this is an important part of layering in the complexity of these types of sauces.  I'm with ya, man!  So be patient and let it cook.  it's worth it.

Then it's time for the red wine.  I pour in a half bottle of a wine I'm willing to drink and that I have more than one bottle of.  If there's anything that's certain, it's that this dish will pair marvelously with whichever wine you've used in it.  And by having more than one bottle of it, it ensures a magical pairing that will delight your guests.  Use this also as an opportunity to deglaze the pan and scrape all of those beautifully browned bits of wonderment that might have been left over from all the great ingredients you already have layering on top of each other.

And then, here's the thing I remember from Giada's episode.  She stirs in some Mascarpone cheese.  I just love this cheese - like a delicate, Italian cream cheese, only so much better.  There's a tinge of sweetness, but it's the creaminess that I adore.  So I stir in half of the container, which is about 4 oz, and the result is this...

In the meantime, boil up some whole wheat pasta in salted water.  I mean, with all the talk about how whole grains are infinitely better for human health than refined flour, why not use it?  I actually find I prefer the flavor and toothsome texture.  It's also harder to screw up - you would have to overcook that by days to make it inedible.  Well, I don't know that for sure, but for a longer time, anyway.


By the way, I much prefer penne or rigatoni to rotini.  For some reason, I have an unreasonable perception that rotini should be reserved for pasta salad.    A few too many scary pasta salads from the school cafeteria, I suppose.  But it does the same thing as my preferred pasta in that it captures the sauce into its secret folds and allows for each and every bite to have flavor maximization


Throw in the whole wheat pasta, but don't drain all the starchy, salty water.  If the sauce is getting too dry or gummy, ladle in some of that water, which relieves the issue, but because of the starchiness, allows for it all to remain bound together.  A magical liquid, that is...

Chop up some cilantro for that burst of fresh flavor and color, and there you have it!  A big ol' plate of utter yumminess!  Enjoy!