Broccoli and Sausage Orecchiette
with basil and parmesan
Broccoli, sausage, and tomato sauce make a great combination for this pasta dish that was first featured in January 2015. Try it with orecchiette (translated: little ear pasta) or your favorite pasta shape.
Smarts: Italians incorporate pasta water into their sauces. If you salted your water enough, it should be thick and tasty and help make your sauce even creamier and more flavorful.
Ingredients
- Onions, medium - 1, sliced
- Broccoli - 1 1/4 lb, chopped
- Basil (opt) - 4 sprigs, chiffonaded
- Pasta, orecchiette - 8 oz ((sub any small pasta shape))
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Italian sausage, uncooked - 10 oz
- Crushed tomatoes - 2 cups
- Red pepper flakes (opt) - 1/4 tsp
- Lemons - 1/2, juice of
- Cheese, Parmesan - 2 oz, shaved or grated
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Onions - Slice. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
- Broccoli - Chop into bite-sized pieces. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
- Basil (if using) - Chiffonade.
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Make
- Bring a sauce pan of water to boil. Salt generously and add pasta. Cook until al dente, tender but not soggy. About 1 minute before finishing, add in broccoli. Drain, saving ½ cup (or 118 ml) of pasta water (for 4 servings, adjust accordingly if customizing).
- Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add cooking oil and then onions and sausage to heated oil. Break sausage up and cook until brown on the outside, 3 to 5 minutes. (If you have a good non-stick pan, you can skip the oil)
- Add crushed tomatoes and pasta water with red pepper flakes (if using), and saute for ~2 minutes.
- Mix pasta and broccoli into the sauce, and saute until everything is cooked through.
- Remove from heat. Fold in basil, and finish with lemon juice and parmesan cheese (if using). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
40 reviews
Loved the ORECCHIETTE--that was a new pasta for me. Will definitely make orecchiette again, but with my own sausage pasta sauce.
0 HelpfulWas good. Introduced me to a few new cool cooking techniques (like cooking the broccoli with the pasta, and reserving the pasta water). Noticed there was not much spices - so added garlic and italian seasoning. Still not extremely flavourful, but liked it! I think next time I could cut down on dishes - cuz this time it made a lot. Would probably make again, though, it was tasty and pretty quick.
0 HelpfulI used a spicy sausage that made this dish very flavorful. I will use half the amount of onion next time.
0 HelpfulTasty, we did add some seasoning (garlic and herbs de province) because our sausage is not seasoned.
0 Helpful