Passport & Plate - Mamma Agata's Sausage & Red Pepper Pasta
Italy | Monday, March 2, 2015 | 5 photos
Ingredients
250gm long, broad pasta, wider than Fettuccini (Pappardelle pasta is best for this dish but I often have to use Fettuccini as I can't get Pappardelle where I live)
1 kg of red & yellow sweet bell peppers
50gm butter - (A little less than half a stick)
4tbl extra virgin olive oil
1/2 small red or white onion (chopped)
500gm sweet Italian sausage (make sure to use a sweet pork sausage rather than spicy or hot sausage)
1 kg fresh cherry tomatoes (quartered)
5 fresh basil leaves (torn)
2 pinches sea salt
1 cup Mamma Agata's Tomato sauce (I sometimes substitute this with tomato passata or can crushed tomatoes)
Peanut Oil
How to prepare this recipe1. Wash the peppers and remove the stems. Cut each pepper in half and remove/discard the seeds from inside. Slice the peppers lengthwise, but not too thin and not too thick.
2. Saute the peppers in peanut oil for ten to fifteen minutes until soft. This makes them easier to digest and also brings out the flavour. Once the peppers are cooked, place them on a paper towel or napkin to soak up the excess oil.
3. In a separate pan, melt the butter and olive oil over low heat. Add the chopped onion and cook until golden brown (but not burned).
4. Add the sausage to the pan and sear on all sides. Cover the pan and cook for an additional two minutes. Then uncover the pan and pierce the sausage with a fork on both sides to allow the juice of the sausage to flow in the pan and enhance the flavour of the pasta sauce.
5. Add the peppers to the pan with the sausage, placing the sausage on top of the peppers. Add the chopped cherry tomatoes, fresh town basil, salt and the cup of Mamma Agata's Tomato Sauce to the pan. NOTE: You can use half Roma or San Marzano and half cherry tomatoes.
6. Cover the pan and cook on flow flame for thirty minutes. Once cooked, remove the sausage and cut into small pieces, and place back into the pan.
7. Cook the pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain the pasta and add it to the sausage and pepper sauce and cook on low heat for two additional minutes to marry the flavours.
8. Add a handful of grated Parmigiano cheese and serve hot.
The story behind this recipeI know what you’re probably thinking, not another sausage and peppers recipe. Surely this girl can be more original than that? But this isn’t just any sausage and peppers recipe, this is Mamma Agata’s Sausage and Red Pepper Pasta.
Mamma Agata is a gorgeous Italian woman who lives and works in Ravello, on the Amalfi Coast of Italy. I visited her home and cooking school in August 2011 during my six month European and US adventure and she has changed the way I cook ever since. It was her passion, love and devotion to food that inspired me to follow my dreams of becoming a writer. Together with her family, including daughter Chiara, husband Salvatore and son in law Gennaro, I enjoyed one of the best experiences of my life. The below paragraph is an extract from a personal piece I wrote immediately after meeting Mamma Agata and sharing in this beautiful meal with her.
Next up was the pappardelle with sausage and peppers, something I was really looking forward to since the class began. The actual cooking of this dish was quite simple, yet involved several of Mamma Agata's ingenious tricks to make it all come together perfectly. When we finally got to sample our creation, a sense of euphoria flooded over me. Each bite was an inspiration to cooking, I felt I just had to share the joys of cooking (especially Mamma Agata's cooking) with the entire world. Ribbons of chewy pappardelle intertwined with the creaminess of the butter and richness of the tomatoes, was perfectly complimented by the robust flavours of the pork and fennel sausage and sweetness of the peppers. Warm and inviting, secretly I wished I could eat this and only this for the entire meal.
This recipe has now become a staple piece in my cooking repertoire and I often make it for friends so they too can share in Mamma Agata’s love for food.
