Rigatoni with Sausage and Fennel

Made this for dinner last weekend with Al and Cathy - it's an Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) recipe that is so so so good. Rich, creamy, flavorful; it's also quite easy to make and can be made ahead of time which is perfect for having company over - I made the sauce earlier in the day and just reheated it before adding to the hot cooked pasta. It's so good that Al turned around and made it again this week - I'm with him, I totally would eat this twice in one week! I pretty much followed her recipe with the exception of adding a little hot Italian sausage along with the mild, see my notes under the recipe.

• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 3 cups chopped fennel (1 large bulb)
• 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion
• 1 1/4 pounds sweet Italian sausages, casings removed
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
• 1/2 teaspoon whole fennel seeds, crushed with a mortar and pestle
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2/3 cup half-and-half
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 pound rigatoni
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1 cup freshly grated Italian Parmesan cheese, divided

Directions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the fennel and onion and saute for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Add the sausage and cook for 7-8 minutes, crumbling it with a fork, until nicely browned. Add the garlic, fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon black pepper and cook for one minute. Pour in the wine, bring to a boil, and add the heavy cream, half-and-half, and tomato paste. Bring back to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, until the sauce has thickened.

2. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil, add 2 tablespoons salt, and cook the rigatoni according to package directions. Drain and add to the sauce, stirring to coat the pasta. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes to allow the pasta to absorb the sauce. Remove from heat, stir in the parsley and 1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese. Serve hot with the remaining 1/2 cup parmesan on the side. 

My notes: 

1) if you can't find bulk Italian sausage just buy links and remove the meat from 

the casing. To do that you just make a slit down the side and pull the casing off. 

Super easy. I used one pound of bulk mild Italian and 2 hot sausage links, went a

little lighter on the red pepper flakes - adjust this according to your spicy preference. 

I do not like very spicy but this combination was perfect for me.

                             

2) I don't have a mortar and pestle, so to crush the fennel seeds I put them in a 

small ramekin and smashed them with the handle of my meat pounder - totally 

worked. 
                             

 3) If you've never used fennel before: Cut the feathery tops off the bulb and cut the 

bulb in half. Remove the core then chop the fennel in small pieces, maybe 1/2". 

After they cook down there isn't noticeable pieces so don't worry about 

having big fennel chunks in the sauce.

1) I chopped up two small fennel bulbs to get 3 cups - side note, the tops of fennel are
really pretty and after cutting them off the bulb I added them to some grocery 

store flowers for the table centerpiece. A week later both the flowers and the fennel

tops are still going strong. 

click here for original source. 

"Cooking for Jeffrey" by Ina Garten © Clarkson Potter 2016. 

Provided courtesy of Ina Garten. All rights reserved.