Orecchiette with Sausage and Cherry Tomatoes Recipe

Sausage and Cherry Tomatoes Orecchiette Recipe

I love to try new recipes, but I get frustrated when I don't write about them right away on my blog. I take a bunch of photos, some better than others, download them to my computer and tell myself that I'm going to write about the recipe tomorrow.

Then I cook another meal, take some more pictures, download them to my computer before writing about previous recipe. Not today.

Friday night I made this quick and easy and very delicious recipe for pasta with sausage and cherry tomatoes that was so good, I wasn't going to wait a week or two before posting for you to check out and try it yourselves.

I found this recipe while browsing the latest food and wine edition on my iPad. That's right, I am now checking out some of my favorite cooking magazines on an electronic device and guess what?

I like the new technology. I like that I will be able to store future cooking magazines electronically so I don't end up with more boxes of partially read cooking mags that I can't seem to throw out.

Orecchiette with Sausage and Cherry Tomatoes

This recipe was created by one of my favorite Philadelphia chefs, Marc Vetri. I have written about Marc many times on my website, mostly about his involvement with Alex's Lemonade Stand, a charity that I support that raises money to find a cure for childhood cancer, one cup at a time.

I'm guessing this recipe is in this month's Food & Wine to promote Chef Vetri's new cookbook, Rustic Italian Food, due to come out in November.  I can't wait to buy a copy if only for his recipe for one of my favorite all-time pasta dishes, chicken liver rigatoni with cipollini onions and sage.

Last time I spoke with Marc he told me it would be in this cookbook. If all the recipes in Rustic Italian Food are as good as the four that he offers up in Food & Wine, this cookbook may turn out to be one of my favorite Italian cookbooks.

My youngest daughter Maddie had two of her friend's sleepovers last night, so we weren't sure what kind of eaters they were.  I adapted Chef Marc's recipe a little bit to make sure everyone would enjoy it.

We started them off with the pasta alone with a little sauce on the side, but all the girls eventually wanted more with the sauce.

I chose this recipe because we had most of the ingredients in-house including the orecchiette pasta, sausage, and cherry tomatoes. We didn't have any aged provolone cheese so I substituted freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

I also didn't add the crushed red pepper but put it on the table for anyone who cared for it, and it turned out to be only me and my wife.

This recipe takes a total of 30 minutes to prepare, so it's great for a weeknight meal or any time you need to put something together in a hurry.

Using sausage instead of ground meat saves time because the sausage is already fully seasoned. Chef Mark uses the shredded cheese in the dish to give it a salty, creamy finish.

Pasta cooking tip - Mark says, "I always save the pasta water for thickening sauces. It should be a little cloudy from the starch".

I like to add a little of the pasta water to my sauces too to help the sauce stick to the pasta.

Orecchiette Pasta

Orecchio is the Italian word for ear and the suffix "etto" means small so translated, orecchiette means small ear because someone thought that's what this small pasta from southern Italy look like.

One of my favorite recipes featuring orecchiette is from Chef Ricco DeLuca called Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe. Check it out!

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5 from 2 votes

Orecchiette with Sausage and Cherry Tomatoes Recipe

A perfect pasta dish that easy to prepare and a favorite in our house.

Prep Time6 minutes mins

Cook Time24 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Pasta

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound orecchiette
• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ¾ pound sweet Italian sausage without casing
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes washed and halved
• ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
• Salt to taste
• 2 ounces aged provolone cheese shredded (I used Parmesan)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the orecchiette pasta until al dente, but be sure to reserve ¾ cup of the pasta water to help make the sauce.
• While the pasta is cooking, heat up a tablespoon of olive oil in a large sauté or frying pan large enough to hold the pasta and sauce. When the oil is hot, add the sausage in 1 inch pieces and cook until browned on all sides and cooked through. This should take about 8 minutes. Transfer the sausage to the plate lined with paper towel.
• Add another 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to the pan, raise the heat to medium high and as soon as it gets hot, add the tomatoes and crushed red pepper.
• While the tomatoes are cooking, use the back of a slotted spoon to press down on them until they are slightly softened. This should take about 5 minutes.
• Now add the reserved pasta water, scrape up any brown bits of sausage and cook over medium heat until the liquid is reduced by half. Keep using the back of a slotted spoon to crush the tomatoes. This should all take about 6 minutes.
• Add the pasta back to the pan along with the reserved sausage and the remaining tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Mix this all-together using your slotted spoon until the pasta is coated with sauce and olive oil.
• Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the cheese and serve right away in warm pasta bowls along with any side dishes.

Notes

We served steamed broccoli and a nice green salad. I also had some extra grated Parmesan cheese on the table in case anybody wanted more.

This recipe will be added to my list of quick and easy recipes that I would serve again to my family or to a group of friends.

Adapted from Marc Vetri’s new cookbook Rustic Italian Food

Some of My Favorite Pasta Recipes