Sausage Ragu Rigatoni

• Meat

  • 16 oz Sausage, ground

• Produce

  • 1 Bay leaf
  • 1 cup Carrot
  • 1/2 cup Celery
  • 3 Garlic cloves
  • 1 cup Sweet onion
  • 28 oz Tomato

• Canned Goods

  • 2 tbsp Tomato paste

• Pasta & Grains

  • 1 lb De cecco rigatoni

• Baking & Spices

  • 1/4 tsp Black pepper, freshly-cracked
  • 1 tsp Salt

• Oils & Vinegars

  • 1 tbsp Olive oil

• Dairy

  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

• Beer, Wine & Liquor

  • 2/3 cup Red wine, dry

Found on foodyschmoodyblog.com

Ingredients

• 1 T olive oil
• 16 oz ground sausage (sweet Italian or combo of sweet Italian w/ Hot Italian)
• 1 C roughly chopped sweet onion
• 1 C roughly chopped carrot
• ½ C roughly chopped celery
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
• ⅔ C red wine, dry
• 2 T tomato paste
• 28 oz crushed tomato
• 1 bay leaf
• ½ C freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1 lb De Cecco Rigatoni
• Optional: ¼ C freshly chopped parsley for garnish

Directions

• Place roughly chopped onion, carrot, celery and garlic in food processor. Process until vegetables are almost a paste consistency. Set aside.
• Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium/high heat. Add sausage to pan. Cook, breaking meat up, occasionally, until browned (It does not need to be cooked completely at this point).
• Push sausage towards the edges of pan. Add onion mixture to pan. Cook about 5 minute, occasionally stirring. Mixture should begin to brown. Season with salt and pepper.
• Add wine to pan. Cook, stirring occasionally, until wine has reduced at least by half (about 3-5 minutes). Stir in tomato paste. Cook 1 minute. Stir crushed tomatoes into mixture and add bay leaf. Bring mixture just a boil and then reduce heat to medium/low. Simmer 25 minutes.
• While ragu is simmering, prepare De Cecco rigatoni pasta according to package instructions. Before draining pasta, reserve ½ C cooking water.
• Stir drained pasta into ragu mixture. If the mixture seems too dry, stir in small amounts of reserved cooking water, until desired consistency is reached. Stir in cheese.
• Garnish with parsley and additional parmesan cheese if desired.
• **Note: remove bay leaf prior to serving