Sausage & Mushroom Rigatoni with Ricotta
Ok I had plans for chicken the other night. It did not defrost in time. Just my luck. Finally home and my dinner plans were dashed. Hungry people and no idea what was for dinner. I tried not to panic. Then the little voices started…”Mom, what’s for dinner?” Ummm… Stumped. But….I had just picked up some Italian sausage that day, so that was ready to go. Mushrooms? Check. Ricotta? Check. I can do something with this! New plan. Sausage and mushroom is my favorite topping on pizza. So why not pasta? Dinner in 30 minutes and it was delicious! This is easy to put together for a quick meal and it is really a wonderful combination of flavors! It’s thick and creamy and above all, very hearty. You won’t be hungry after this one. I think it might even satisfy the teenagers in the house! Turns out this unplanned recipe was one of our tastiest! Sometimes I surprise myself!
Sausage & Mushroom Rigatoni with Ricotta
Ingredients
- 1 pound Italian sausage
- 10 ounces baby potabello mushrooms sliced thick
- 1 cup tomato puree or sauce
- 1 cup ricotta cheese room temperature
- 2 cloves garlic chopped fine
- 1 pound rigatoni pasta
- 1 tablespoon Fresh basil torn
- reserved pasta water if needed
- Parmesan cheese for topping.
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- In a non-stick skillet over medium heat, remove sausage from casing and saute with garlic until browned.
- Add tomato puree and mix. Cook for 10 minutes. Meanwhile wash and slice your mushrooms.
- Add torn basil.
- Add sliced mushrooms and mix.
- Get your pasta going and cook according to package directions.
- Cook sauce an additional 10 minutes or until sausage is cooked through and mushrooms are tender.
- In the last 5 minutes or so of cooking, shut off the heat and add 1 cup ricotta to the sauce.
- If the sauce is too tight, add some pasta cooking water until desired consistency. This wil lalso help thicken the sauce.
- Mix until combined. Season with salt & pepper.
- Mix with drained pasta and serve with grated Parmesan cheese.
