Rigatoni al Ragu' Rustico

Love, love Rigatoni!    I like their ability to suck in the sauce like no other pasta, especially the chunkiest meat sauces.  

Rigatoni al Ragu Rustico

All photos - Copyright - ©2012 - La Casa e Il Giardino

"Ragu' Rustico" (rustic sauce)because characterized by typical ingredients of rural Italian kitchens:  mushrooms and hot sausages.

Ingredients

1 lb. good quality Rigatoni

1 lb. mixed mushrooms (shiitake, oyster, criminis and porcini)

1/2 lb. hot Italian sausages                                 

2 cups tomato pulp in chunks

1 clove of garlic

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano

Sprig parsley, chopped

1/2 cup white wine

1/4 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper

home-made hot sausages

Clean and slice mushrooms. 

In a medium pan saute' mushrooms in oil and garlic. 

Remove skin from the sausage and cut into chunks.   

Add the sausage to the mushrooms and simmer for 10 minutes. 

Add the white wine and let evaporate. 

Add the chopped tomatoes, salt and pepper and continue to cook for an additional 15 minutes. 

In the meantime, cook the pasta.  Drain and pour into the ragu'.

Add the Parmigiano and chopped parsley.

mixed mushrooms

Sustainable Eating - Means Branching Out

Changing one's eating habits is not easy. You need a diet that you can't "break" - one that's flexible enough to adapt to new changes.

Try a fruit or vegetable that you did not think you liked when it's in season or at its peak. I have seen people converted to foods from zucchini to asparagus just by tasting them freshly picked and simply prepared.



Pasta with Asparagus - Fettuccine con Asparagi

Ingredients

1 lb. thin asparagus

2 cloves of garlic chopped

4 ripe tomatoes or 1 can plum tomatoes

3 tablespoons olive oil for sauce

1/4 cup of olive oil to saute' asparagus

Salt and pepper

1/2 lb. fettuccine pasta

Cut asparagus into 1 inch pieces.  Throw away hard ends.

In a pan add 1/4 cup olive oil, add cut asparagus, salt and pepper and saute' for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until tender.

In a medium pot, add 3 tablespoons olive oil and chopped garlic. When garlic is golden, add tomatoes and simmer for approximately 15 minutes, add the asparagus, and simmer few more minutes.  Adjust salt and pepper.

In the meantime, bring water to a boil and cook the pasta and drain. Pour sauce with asparagus over pasta and serve.


Asparagus are not limited to fettuccine.  We also love them with rigatoni.