Rigatoni Woodsman-Style

So in order to start cooking again, I was looking for some simple dishes on my Google Reader, and came across this recipe on Sarah's blog. It looked like a nice hearty pasta for a cold night; and while it took a little longer than I anticipated, it was delicious and I would make it again!

I made a few adjustments to the amount of certain ingredients. Most notably, I doubled the amount of sausage since I wanted to stretch this into several meals. (Yes, half of this went into the freezer!) I also upped the amount of chicken stock since I did add more sausage - I wanted to make sure there was enough sauce to go around. The result was probablly a thinner sauce than the original, so go back to the 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock if you want a thicker sauce.

Sarah suggests garlic bread to go along with this meal. I agree, and served with a green salad, you have a winter night's feast!

Rigatoni Woodsman-Style

from Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen via A Taste of Home Cooking

1 pound rigatoni
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large onion, diced

1 pound sweet Italian sausages, preferably without fennel seeds

2 8-ounce packages sliced mushrooms

1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained

1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed

kosher salt and coarse ground black pepper

1 3/4 cups chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup ricotta cheese (part skim or whole milk)

1 cup freshly grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and reserve.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a wide, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, and cook, stirring until translucent and beginning to soften, about 4 minutes. Remove the casings from the sausage and crumble into the skillet and stir, until the sausage is lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

Stir half the mushrooms into the sausage mixture. Add the remaining mushrooms as those in the pan wilt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until all the mushrooms are lightly browned, about 5 minutes. If the mushrooms give off liquid, allow time for the juices to boil off before the mushrooms start to brown.

Add the tomatoes and peas into the skillet and bring to a boil. Lower the heat so the sauce is at a lively simmer, season lightly with salt and pepper, and cook a minute or two. Stir in the stock and bring to a boil. Cook until the sauce is lightly reduced, about 5 minutes. Pour in the cream and bring to a boil.

Spoon the ricotta into the sauce and stir gently to mix. Combine the pasta and sauce into a pot large enough to accommodate everything. Bring the sauce and pasta to a boil, stirring gently to coat the pasta with sauce. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 cup grated cheese. Check the seasonings, adding salt and pepper if necessary.

A nice, hearty sauce: