Orecchiette with Broccoli and Sausage
An easy weeknight pasta recipe with a broccoli sauce flavored with sausage.Recipe from BasilAndBubbly.com
Servings: 4 people
Ingredients
- 3 links Sweet Italian sausage casings removed
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 8 ounces orecchiette
- 1 lb frozen broccoli florets
- ½ Tablespoon red pepper flakes more or less to taste.
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 2 cups pasta water
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Bring a large, heavy bottomed pot full of water ( at least 8 cups ) to a boil. Once the water is boiling, add the broccoli florets and boil them for 3 minutes, or until they become very tender. Using a slotted spoon or other utensil that allows the water to drain, remove the broccoli pieces from the water and set them aside.Add the orecchiette to the boiling water and cook it according to package directions ( likely around 12 minutes ). Make sure to reserve 2 cups of cooking water before straining the pasta!!!
- While the orecchiette is cooking ... In a large skillet, brown the sausage in the olive oil by cooking it for 6 to 8 minutes over medium high heat. Make sure before cooking that you have removed the sausage from the link casing OR are using loose ground sausage.
- Add the broccoli, red pepper flakes, and butter to the sausage pan and stir to combine. Mash the broccoli into the sausage the pan with a wooden spoon.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Slowly stir the pasta water into the broccoli/sausage mix, ½ cup at a time. Add the pasta to the pan and stir to combine it with the sauce. Add the parmesan to the pan and stir it again to combine. Serve with additional grated cheese for topping.