Sunday, April 10, 2011

Pasta Pepperonata = Happy Days

What kind of food makes you happy?  All food makes me happy, but Italian sausage with peppers and onions is one of my favorite meals.  Throw in some pasta or potatoes on the side and I'm definitely in the happy camp.  This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs it's all about Happy Days, the food that makes us happy.  I decided to go along with some of my favorites for this meal.  I cooked up a 3lb ring of Italian sausage and decided to serve Jamie's Pasta Pepperonata on the side.  HAPPY DAYS!
 Pasta Pepperonata
Adapted from JamieOliver.Com
Serves 4-6

  This is a great pasta dish using rigatoni, which is quite robust. It makes a really nice lunchtime snack. The mascarpone or crème fraîche is a lovely addition, but you can leave it out if you prefer. It will give you a wonderful mottled sauce, but try it without first and see how you go.
  
  2 red peppers, deseeded and sliced
• 2 yellow peppers, deseeded and sliced
• extra virgin olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 red onions, peeled and finely sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and grated
• 2 handfuls of fresh flat-leaf parsley, leaves finely chopped, stalks reserved
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
• 2 handfuls of grated 
mascarpone or creme fraiche, if desired
 

Put all the peppers in a large frying pan over a medium heat with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Place a lid on, and cook slowly for 15 minutes until softened. Don't rush this too much, as cooking the peppers slowly like this really helps to bring out the flavour. Add the onion and cook for a further 20 minutes. Then add the garlic and parsley stalks and toss around, keeping everything moving in the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes most. Have a little taste, and season with a bit more salt and pepper. Add the vinegar - it will sizzle away, so give everything a good toss. Then add one handful of the grated Parmesan and the mascarpone or crème fraîche if you are using it and turn the heat down to minimum while you cook the pasta.

Meanwhile put a large pot of salted water on to boil. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to the packet instructions. When cooked, drain in a colander, reserving some of the cooking water. Put the peppers, pasta and parsley leaves into a large warmed bowl. Give them a good toss together, then add a little of the pasta cooking water and a few good lugs of extra virgin olive oil to coat the pasta nicely. Serve straight away sprinkled with the rest of the Parmesan.

 
Notes/Results:  Delicious!  This pasta paired beautifully with a ring of Italian sausage.  The whole meal was such a treat. One thing I want to share is that I took the liberty of adding more mascarpone cheese than called for.  Jamie's recipe calls for one or two tablespoons of mascarpone and it is optional.  Cheese lover that I am, I almost doubled the mascarpone.  While I love cheese and I love mascarpone, this was not the time or place to up the cheese.  A tablespoon or so of mascarpone would be great, but the amount I added was just too much cheese and masked the flavor of the peppers and onions.  It was still delicious, and it was definitely creamy, but I would've liked to taste the peppers and onions a little more.
Currently cooking with Chef Jamie Oliver

Don't forget to tune in to Jamie's Food Revolution airing Tuesday, April 12th at 8/7 central.

23 comments:

  1. This dinner makes me very, very happy. Love the mascarpone - I usually make it plain with some pasta water. We are big Jamie Oliver fans here.

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  2. What a wonderful meal ! I'm happier too !

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  3. This is beautiful! Really like the colors in this dish. Good call on pairing with Italian sausage--seems like a perfect combination to me. Excellent meal, Kim!

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  4. Kim, this meal would make me happy too! It sounds so fresh and delicious and thanks for the heads up on the marscapone. I would have done what you did as I love cheese. I posted your burger recipe today from Rachael Ray and I've chosen May's recipe. Hope it's okay with you, I should have checked first. Let me know if it's not!

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  5. LOL, oh well...cheesesluts sometimes can't help themselves, can they ;)? It sounds fantastic and I have this one bookmarked, too. I bet it was wonederful w/ the Italian Sausage.

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  6. You are so right, Kim, this is a happy meal if I ever saw one. Jamie does marvelous pasta dishes. And seems to use creme fraiche as a finishing touch...makes the sauce so lovely and creamy!

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  7. That would definitely make me happy too! Looks delish :)

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  8. I love this! It's like a deconstructed version of sausage and peppers, with each going into a different part of the meal! I didn't realize there was even such a thing as too much mascarpone! But I'll take your word for it :P

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  9. Oh Kim, I'm with you on the belief that pasta is a food that evokes happiness within! I love the addition of the mascarpone or creme fraiche to make this decadent. My problem is that most foods make me happy in the tummy! Just some more than others. This was a FUN IHCC theme!

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  10. Love the idea of adding mascarpone. Rigatoni was my dad's favorite pasta and is in my top three. Looks wonderful.

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  11. This seems like it would be the perfect pairing with your sausage ring. I love how colorful it is too. Yum! ;-)

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  12. This dish would definitely put me in the happy camp!!!

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  13. jamie oliver is the best! this looks amazing, so full of flavor. don't you love it when a meal is so good is can make your day!

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  14. Wow..yum! This looks great. I love creamy, cheesy pasta dishes, even better with peppers and onions:)

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  15. Mmm, delicious pasta - love those peppers!

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  16. Pasta is probably my favorite thing to make. When my peppers grow in my garden, I'll try it!

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  17. Fabulous! Looks wonderfully tasty!

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  18. This pasta dish would certainly make me very happy as well! I love the combination of peppers and onions and the pasta along with the cheese certainly didn't hurt :o)

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  19. I've been looking for a new pepper dish, the rigatoni and parmesan sound really good! It would also be a great healthy change from macaroni and cheese which I have been overdoing during the winter.

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  20. pasta makes me happy, and this looks amazing!!

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  21. That looks so inviting! I use my J.O. books far too rarely. Italian food is comfort food to me too.. happy food, as you say.

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  22. I'd like to go to happy camp with you! Looks delicious.
    Mimi

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  23. This reminds me of the Italian Skillet Slop that Alexis and I make, delicious!

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