Tagliatelle with Peas, Sausage and Ricotta Cheese

Happy Wednesday! It's almost Christmas, can you believe it? What a year this has been. Crazy is an apt description of the goings on around the world and outlandish stories in the news. We only have a few days left before we can put this year behind us and please let 2021 be better for us all.

We decorated this year, first time in a while, and set up outdoor lights, a light globe which projects colored snow on the house and trees and of course, the Christmas llama.

Before we settle in to watch Alastair Sim as Scrooge and celebrate quietly, I wanted to share a super easy recipe from Giada De Laurentiis. We will have enough of this for two dinners and one hot lunch.

Carby it is and while it looks very high calorie, it surprisingly is not as bad as you may think. It isn't alfredo sauce you see here but plain old ricotta cheese melted down in the pan. Very creamy and little effort in front of the stove.

I did make some adaptions and will tell you I did not smash the peas but left them whole and I did not use a full pound of tagliatelle pasta. As a matter of fact, I was out and used fettucine but it worked a treat. I did add more than 1 cup of ricotta to the mixture and it was very good.

Here is the recipe below - substitute per your taste and available ingredients.

Tagliatelle with Peas, Sausage and Ricotta Cheese

Ingredients

1 pound fresh or dried tagliatelle pasta (or other wide, long pasta - we used Fettucine)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1 pound frozen peas, thawed
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1 bunch fresh basil leaves chopped (about ¾ cup)
¼ cup fresh grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes if dry or according to package directions if fresh.

Drain pasta reserving 1 cup of the pasta cooking water.

Meanwhile, in a large, heavy skillet heat the olive oil and garlic over medium-high heat and add the sausage. Use a wooden spoon to break up the sausage into bite-sized bits. When the sausage has browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the peas to the pan and, using the back of the wooden spoon, smash the peas.

Turn off the heat. Add the ricotta cheese along with the cooked pasta and toss to coat, adding the pasta cooking water in ¼ cup additions, if needed, to make the pasta moist. I didn't need to add more water, I used more ricotta than it called for.

Add the basil, Pecorino Romano cheese, and salt.

Toss gently to coat and serve immediately.

Happy holidays and whatever you celebrate to all.

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