Country-Style Rigatoni

This pasta dish is great for a party as well as a midweek meal. Grab a glass of Vino, some warm crusty bread, and you're good to go! Not at all complicated to make, and basicly everything's done in one pan!

The sauce is what makes this dish, when all the ingredients mingle together the flavors are out of this world! Trust me, try it!

This recipe comes from Carmine's Family Cookbook, and although I tweeked it just a little bit by adding a little more this, and a little less that, it's pretty much right from the book. Here's my adapted version.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of Olive Oil

4 or 5 Cloves of Coarsely Choped Garlic

1/2 of a Thinly Sliced White Onion

1/2 to 3/4 lb. of Italian Sausage with Fennel, casings removed

8 large Basil Leaves, chopped

1/4 cup chopped Flat Leaf Parsley

One can of Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups of Chicken Stock

3tbl of Butter

1 cup of grated Romano Cheese

3 slices of Prosciutto rolled up and thinly sliced

12 ounces of Dried Rigatoni

10 Broccoli Spears, 3" long

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Heat olive oil in a large saute pan, add the onions and garlic.

2. Add sausage, basil and parsley, cook till sausage is nice and brown. Raise heat, add stock and butter, bring to a boil, then simmer for about 5 minutes till sauce thickens a little. Stir in half of the grated cheese and cook for about 3 more minutes till sauce thickens. Add beans, sliced prosciutto, season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile, cook your pasta in salted boiling water for only 4 minutes. Add broccoli and cook another 3-4 more minutes. Pasta will be nicely al dente. It will cook more in the sauce so don't worry!

4. Drain pasta and broccoli, add to sauce, now add more cheese!

This is so good, I decided to bring a huge pan of this to our Festa Italiana! Don't forget to submit your delicious Italian food or drink now, till March 9th. Maryann and I will be getting the tables ready!

,