Ziti With Sausage Onions And Fennel Recipes

Steps:

• Trim fennel, reserving fronds and bulb. Cut fennel bulb in half lengthwise; cut each bulb half lengthwise into (1/4-inch-thick) slices. Cut bulb slices into 2-inch-long pieces. Chop fennel fronds to measure 1/3 cup.
• Bring 6 quarts water and 2 teaspoons of salt to a boil in a large stockpot. Stir in pasta; partially cover, and return to a boil, stirring frequently.
• Cook 8 minutes or until the pasta is almost al dente, stirring occasionally. Drain pasta in a colander over a bowl, reserving 2 cups cooking water.
• While pasta cooks, heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Remove sausage from casings.
• Add sausage to Dutch oven; cook 2 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring to crumble. Push sausage to one side of pan.
• Add onion to open space in pan; cook 1 minute or until onion begins to soften. Stir onion into sausage.
• Push onion mixture to one side of the pan. Add fennel bulb to open space in pan; cook 1 minute or until fennel begins to soften.
• Stir fennel into onion mixture. Stir in pepper and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cook 1 minute. Move the sausage and fennel mixture to outside edges of pan, leaving an open space in center.
• Add 1/4 cup tomato paste to open space in pan; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir tomato paste into fennel mixture.
• Add reserved 2 cups cooking water to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes or until fennel is tender.
• Add fennel fronds and pasta; cook 2 minutes or until pasta is al dente, tossing to combine. Remove from heat; stir in cheese. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Remove the sausage from its casing and break the meat up a bit with your fingers. Trim the fennel bulb. Slice the bulb in half lengthwise, then slice each half in 1/4-inch thick lengthwise slices. You will have about 3 cups of 2-inch long matchsticks of fennel. Pour the olive oil into the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage meat and cook, stirring and breaking it up until it is sizzling and beginning to brown, about 1-2 minutes. Push the sausage a aside and drop the onion slices into a clear part of the pan; saute, stirring, till another 2 minutes will wilted. Clear another space in the pan. Drop in the fennel; let it heat up and wilt for 1 minute or more, then stir it with the sausage and onions. Sprinkle on 1/4 teaspoon salt; drop the peperoncino in a hot spot and toast the flakes for 1/2 minute, then stir them in. Clear a hot spot in the center of the pan, put in the tomato paste, and cook, stirring for a minute or more, until caramelized. Add 3 cups of boiling pasta water from the pot into the skillet, stir and bring the liquid to a boil. Adjust the heat to simmer. Cook ziti till right before al dente. Continue to simmer the sauce until the flavors have developed and the fennel is soft but not mushy, 6 minutes or more. The sauce should not get too thick: stir in another cup or two of boiling pasta water if it reduces rapidly. Drop ziti into the sauce pan. Start tossing pasta and sauce together; ladle in more water if the sauce seems too thick. Continue to cook and toss the ziti in the skillet for 2 minutes, or until they are perfectly al dente and coated with sauce. If the pasta appears dry, ladle in more hot pasta water; if it is soupy, cook rapidly to thicken sauce.

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven, such as Le Creuset, over medium heat. Add the fennel and onion and saute for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Add the sausage and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, crumbling it with a fork, until nicely browned. Add the garlic, crushed 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.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil, add 2 tablespoons salt, and cook the rigatoni according to the directions on the package. 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. Off the heat, stir in the parsley and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan. Serve hot in shallow bowls with the remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan on the side.

Steps:

• For the meaty ziti: Place an oven rack in the middle position. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for pasta.
• Heat a large braiser (about 5 quarts) over medium heat and add the olive oil. Crumble in the sausage. Cook, breaking up into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 4 minutes. Add the onion, sliced fennel and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until wilted, 4 to 5 minutes. Season with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and the red pepper flakes. Stir to incorporate and allow the red pepper flakes to toast, about 1 minute. Add the wine. Increase the heat to reduce by half, about 2 minutes.
• Add both cans of tomatoes. Add 1 cup water to the smaller reserved can and add the tomato-water to the pot. Bring to a simmer and cook until thick and flavorful, about 15 minutes.
• Meanwhile, add the ziti to the boiling water and cook according to the package instructions. Drain and add the pasta to the sauce. Toss to coat. Add almost all the shredded mozzarella (saving some for the top) and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Tear half the fresh mozzarella into smaller pieces and add to the pasta; fold the cheeses into the pasta. Top with the remaining shredded mozzarella and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan, then dot with torn pieces of the remaining fresh mozzarella.
• Bake, uncovered, until the edges are bubbling and the top is golden and crusty, 20 to 25 minutes. Meanwhile, make the pesto.
• For the pesto: Combine the basil, parsley, fennel fronds, almonds, lemon zest and juice, garlic, salt and Parmesan in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to make a coarse paste. With the machine running, add the olive oil in a steady stream to make a smooth pesto.
• Dollop the pesto on top of the hot pasta. Season with black pepper and finish with grated Parmesan.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray a 4-quart rectangular baking dish with nonstick spray. Combine mozzarella and Italian blend cheeses in a bowl and place in the refrigerator.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender yet firm to the bite, about 11 minutes. Drain.
• At the same time, heat 3 tablespoons oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sausage and break up into morsels. Sprinkle baking soda onto sausage, then add onion and garlic. Cook and stir, continuing to break up any clumps as it cooks, until browned and crumbly, 5 to 7 minutes. Pour off and discard any grease.
• Add pasta sauce, olives, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, anchovy paste, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Add up to 3 tablespoons more oil if desired, and continue stirring until mixture comes to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring regularly, until thickened, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in ziti.
• Spread 1/2 of the sauced ziti into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle 1/2 of the shredded cheese mixture evenly on top. Spoon or ladle the rest of the ziti evenly on top without disturbing the layers underneath; it's okay to have some ziti partially exposed as they will brown handsomely and deliciously as they bake. Sprinkle remaining shredded cheese mixture on top and sprinkle Parmesan across the surface.
• Bake, uncovered, in the preheated oven until bubbly, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• Heat 6 quarts of water with the tablespoon of kosher salt to boiling in the pasta-cooking pot.
• Remove the sausage from its casing and break the meat up a bit with your fingers.
• Trim the fennel bulb (see box and photos, pages 78-79). Slice the bulb in half lengthwise, then slice each half in 1/4-inch-thick lengthwise slices. Separate the slivers of fennel if they are attached at the bottom; cut the long slivers in half so you have about 3 cups of 2-inch-long matchsticks of fennel. Chop and reserve 1/3 cup fronds for garnish.
• Have the remaining sauce ingredients ready and nearby.
• Pour the olive oil into the skillet and set it over medium-high heat. Add the sausage meat and cook, stirring and breaking it up more with a wooden spoon, until it is sizzling and beginning to brown, about 1 1/2 minutes.
• Push the sausage a bit aside and drop the onion slices into a clear part of the pan; sauté, stirring, till they're sizzling and wilting, another 2 minutes or so, then stir them in with the meat.
• Following the illustrations, clear a space and drop in the fennel; let it heat up and wilt for 1 minute or more, then stir it around with the sausage and onions.
• Sprinkle on 1/4 teaspoon salt; drop the peperoncino in a hot spot and toast the flakes for 1/2 minute, then stir them in.
• Clear a good-sized hot spot in the center of the pan, plop in the tomato paste, and cook, stirring it in the spot for a good minute or more, until it is sizzling and caramelizing; then stir it in with everything else.
• Ladle 3 cups of boiling pasta water from the pot into the skillet, stir well, and bring the liquid to a boil. Adjust the heat to maintain an active simmer all over the pan.
• Drop the ziti in the boiling water in the pasta pot. Stir and bring back to the boil. Cook about 8 minutes (a minute less than what is recommended on the package), until the ziti are not quite al dente.
• Continue to simmer the sauce until the flavors have developed and the fennel is soft but not mushy, 6 minutes or more. The sauce should not get too thick: stir in another cup or two of boiling pasta water if it reduces rapidly. When the sauce is done, taste it and add more salt if you want. If the pasta is not ready, turn down the heat to keep the sauce at a very low simmer until the ziti are on their way-then turn the heat up.
• As soon as the ziti are ready by your timing, lift them out of the pot with a spider. Let excess water drip off only for an instant, and drop the wet cylinders into the simmering sauce.
• Start tossing pasta and sauce together; ladle in more water if the sauce seems too thick.
• Sprinkle over all the chopped fennel fronds, and continue to cook and toss the ziti in the skillet for 2 minutes, or until they are perfectly al dente and coated with sauce. If the pasta appears dry, ladle in more hot pasta water; if it is soupy, cook rapidly to thicken the sauce.
• Remove the skillet from the heat, sprinkle the grated cheese over the ziti, and toss it in.
• In Italian, the verb we use to describe the final dressing of the pasta with sauce is condire-translated, "to season, to flavor." And the phrase condire la pasta reminds us that the sauce should be considered a condiment, an enhancement to the pasta.
• I like to think of pasta, especially fresh egg pastas, as playing the leading role in the pasta dish. So why drown the chief protagonist before the drama has started?
• Keep these ideas in mind when you bring your pasta and sauce together in a skillet. If you see that the quantity of sauce is disproportionate to the pasta, spoon some out (and save it, of course) before tossing and finishing the dish. And if you see that the sauce is soupy and collects in the bottom of the skillet, raise the heat while tossing the pasta actively, evaporating the excess water and thickening the sauce so it adheres to the pasta.
• For 1 pound of pasta, bring 6 quarts of water to a full boil (too little water produces a gummy pasta; too much water washes away too much starch).
• Stir 1 tablespoon kosher or coarse sea salt into the water anytime before adding pasta.
• Adding pasta to the pot: Drop shaped and tubular pasta into the boiling water and stir well. Slip long pasta into the water and push the strands under gradually as they soften, bending them into the water, then stirring well to make sure the strands are separated.
• After adding pasta, cover the pot and return water to the boil over high heat.
• Be prepared to uncover the pot before the water boils over.
• Tip: if the water is boiling up and over, blow on it to settle it down.
• Start timing the pasta when the boil resumes.
• For dry pastas that will finish in the skillet, cook in the pot for 2 minutes less than the minimum time given on the package.
• Cook pasta at a rolling boil, either partly covered (you can reduce the heat and save energy) or uncovered. Stir the pasta now and then.
• Did you forget to salt the water? Better to check before the pasta is done: sip water from a wooden spoon; it should be "comfortably" salty at least.
• If you forgot to salt, add it right away: saltless pasta is redeemable while it's in the water; it will absorb some salt even in a brief boil.
• Test pasta by extracting a piece and tasting it 1 to 2 minutes before the designated time for doneness. When it is not quite done al dente, lift out with a spider, tongs, or other tool, let excess water drain into the pot, and drop the pasta with clinging water into the skillet.
• Don't discard pasta water until the dish is finished!
• Shells, rigatoni, radiatori, fettuccine

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
• Place sausage in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. In a large saucepan, heat pasta sauce with 1 teaspoon basil until bubbling. In a medium bowl, mix together ricotta, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
• Spread bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish with sauce. Layer 1/2 of the ziti, 1/2, the sausage, 1/2 of the ricotta, and 1/2 the mozzarella. Spoon half of the sauce over top. Repeat layers. Sprinkle top with remaining 1/2 teaspoons basil and Italian seasoning.
• Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes.