Jeff's Pasta with Sausage-Tomato-Pepper Sauce

Dear Michelle,

I think Spring might be my favorite time of year. All of the seasons have their upsides, though I imagine the recent warm weather is only reason I can say that of Winter right now. While Winter does mean cashmere and boots, fires and stews, it is easily my least favorite season. So I am thrilled by the first day that I open the windows because it is too warm in the house, and I can feel the outside air and hear the birds in the backyard. Spring brings with it the promise of sandals and skirts, and fresh, fresh, plentiful produce.

With the returning warmth, my appetite always starts to change. I begin to crave salads again, and other lighter fare, but the occasional cold day sends me back to the comfort food of Winter. Jeff made this warm, rich pasta dish for dinner on such an evening, and we ate it curled up on the couch while watching a movie.

For many years after we'd moved in together, it was understood that I'd be cooking dinner. This wasn't something we decided, but rather one of those things that just ends up that way. Then, slowly he started to cook more and more. He started off with the simple things, like hot dogs, then graduated to fried perogies with caramelized onion and fresh chopped tomato, and then one night he surprised me with this truly incredible spicy pasta sauce. I'd called to tell him to take care of dinner, as I was going to be home late, and I showed up to Jeff hovering over a pot of spaghetti sauce, which tasted AMAZING. He'd roasted hot Italian peppers, then combined them with sauteed onion, garlic, canned tomatoes, olive oil and butter, some herbs de Provence, and a dash of vinegar to pick it all up.


In this version of the sauce, Jeff first pan-cooks some sausage. He has a particular method for this, which he claims is the best; the links are pan fried, whole, until they brown, then split down the middle with a spatula and flipped to cook and crisp the inside. Once cooked through and browned sufficiently, the sausage is pulled from the pan and chopped. While that is cooling, the onions and garlic cook in the sausage fat, then everything else is added and the whole thing simmers for a while. The resulting sauce is perfect. It is rich with sausage, tangy and sweet from tomatoes and vinegar, spicy from the peppers, and softened by the butter. He usually tries to save a little extra for me, since I like to oven-cook eggs in the leftovers the next day.





I don't know what Jeff will master next, but I'm looking forward to it.


Spicy Tomato, Pepper, and Sausage Pasta Sauce

I'd bet that this will work with almost all pastas but angel hair and tiny pastas like orzo. We've had it with spagetti, fettuccini, orrechiette, and penne, and also used it as pizza sauce before. If you do not use sausage, saute the onion in several tablespoons of olive oil. Fresh basil is a great addition in the summer, as are rosemary, thyme, and oregano or marjoram. If you use a sweet pepper instead of a hot one, add some pepper flakes or hot sauce (Jeff uses Sriracha) for a kick.



about 1lb garlic sausage
1 sweet or hot pepper, deseeded
1/2 large or one small onion, diced (Jeff used a Vadalia for sweetness)
1 large can whole, peeled tomatoes (look for those with lower sodium), liquid reserved
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T butter
Sherry vinegar to taste
pepper
herbes de Provence
grated hard cheese as desired
about 1/2 lb pasta


Drizzle pepper with olive oil on baking sheet, and sprinkle with herbes de Provence and salt. Roast at 400F until very soft, or even till slightly browned.

Start a large pot of water boiling for the pasta, adding salt once it does.

Place sausages in pan over medium-high heat, and let cook till browned. Split open with a spatula (they may have started to split on their own), then turn upside down to cook the inside. Remove once crispy and cooked through; let cool and then chop. Reduce heat to medium-low, remove all but about 2 T of fat from pan, and add onions, stirring occasionally. Once onions start to become transluscent, add garlic and cook a few minutes longer. Open tomatoes. Pull out and squeeze to break up with your hands (I love this part!), directly into the pan. They tend to squirt tomato juice, so beware. Add half of tomato juice from tomato can, reserving the rest. Add vinegar, starting with about 1 T and adding additional to taste.




Adjust heat to maintain a steady simmer. Chop and add pepper, and hot sauce or pepper flakes if necessary. Add herbes de Provence. Add sausage back in. Simmer for at least a half hour, adding reserved tomato juice as necessary, starting the pasta cooking at the appropriate time. Take off of heat, stir in butter, and then drained pasta. Sprinkle with cheese if desired.