Dinner with Your Doc: Summertime Orecchiette

Jun 16, 2020

The more colorful a dish, the healthier it is! This is a standard rule of thumb that holds true in the kitchen.  Finding ways to incorporate color usually involves adding more vegetables to your dishes. As a spin on a sausage and pasta recipe, this recipe incorporates summer vegetables to give it lots of color and nutrients.

Ingredients:

1 pound hot Italian sausage, casings removed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1 pound multicolored sweet baby bell peppers, thinly sliced crosswise
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup coarsely chopped fresh oregano
1 1/4 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese, finely shredded (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup torn fresh basil

Directions:

  1.  Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1 1/2 cups cooking water.
  2. While pasta cooks, cook sausage in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, stirring to break into bite-size pieces, until cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels. Discard drippings.
  3. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to skillet, stirring and scraping to loosen browned bits from bottom of skillet. Add peppers and garlic, and cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Stir in vinegar, salt and tomatoes; cook 1 minute. Stir in pasta, sausage and remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Stir in cooking water, 1/4 cup at a time, until sauce is smooth and coats pasta. Discard any remaining cooking water. Stir in oregano.
  4. Top servings evenly with cheese and basil.