Fettuccine with Creamy Sausage Tomato Sauce

Again, another long break! Work has been too busy to cook and blog.  So I have been cooking, just not blogging! I am trying to use the holidays as a chance to get caught up and clear some of these pictures out of my phone!
This was a delicious treat that I made that does NOT fall into the category of health food.  But we were both craving a delicious pasta without heading out of the apartment, so I used this recipe from Epicurious without really changing much.  It was creamy, hardy, and an excellent treat for a cold day.  It's a rare day that I cook with cream, but this was worth every calorie. 

Here's what I used:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 shallots, chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausages, casings removed
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice with Italian seasonings
• 1 tablespoon dried sage
• 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

• 1 package of fresh fettuccine

• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

I started by chopping my shallots and garlic and adding them to a hot pan with a swirl of olive oil.  I let those sweat until they were softened, about 3 minutes.

Then I added the sausage, working to break it up into small pieces with the back of a wooden spoon.  The smaller the better here, so that it can hold all the delicious sauce. It took about 10 minutes until the sausage was no longer pink in the middle.  Then it's time to add the rest of the sauce. If it looks extremely greasy here, you can use a big metal spoon to get any sausage grease out of the pan - I got about one small spoonful out before I added the rest of the sauce ingredients. 

To this, add the cream and incorporate before adding the tomatoes (make sure you crush them with your hands as you add them), the tomato juices, sage, and red pepper. Stir and incorporate, bring just to a boil, and turn the heat down to simmer for 15 minutes. 

Meanwhile, get your pasta water boiling so that you can add it at the appropriate time (8-9 min out for dry, 3 min out for fresh pasta.)  While I remembered to reserve some pasta water, I did not need to use it. Once the pasta is cooked, strain and add directly to the sauce to coat.  I like to use my silicone kitchen tongs to make sure all the pasta is evenly coated. You can add a little salt and pepper if you need to, though I did not have to add any additional salt. Instead, I topped with a little salty parmesan cheese to serve. 

Buon Appetito!