Fetuccini e salsiccia del pollo - Good Things Catered

OK, so the original name of this is "Fetuccini and Chicken Sausage in Tomato Cream Sauce" but that's a lot of verbage so I decided to give it an official italian name... "Fetuccini e salsiccia del pollo"... Fetuccini and chicken sausage :) I got this recipe from Katie at http://goodthingscatered.blogspot.com/!

This also begins my little blog mini-project. I've decided I'm going to do one recipe from each of the food blogs I subscribe to on Google Reader... and I'm starting with Good Things Catered! The reason I want to start this little mini project is because the women who maintain these blogs really inspire me to be a better cook and baker, and I feel like I have a little bit to learn from all of them. You'll be able to see in my link bar on the side which blogs I subscribe to, and as I cook/bake things from there, I'll post what I made next to it. Anyway, on with the show!

To be completely honest, this recipe racked my nerves a little bit. I had never made a pasta sauce from complete scratch like this, and before dinner last night, I had never cooked with, much less tasted chicken sausage. But, it didn't have many ingredients, and it was essentially pasta, meat, and cheese (three of the 4 of Jason's food pyramid... the 4th is sweets), so I figured it would be a good recipe to try. But it turned out to be pretty easy, but it was a little cumbersome because I don't have a dutch oven so I had to make do with what was available.

Katie's recipe called for your pasta of choice. She chose Rigatoni, I chose Fetuccini... I figured since the sauce would be medium-weight and wouldn't be very chunky, something like Fetuccini would stand up to it well because it's a little more on the hearty side. If it hadn't have been baked, the fetuccini would have work beautifully. The problem arose when I transferred the pasta and sauce to my pyrex dish to bake. It was VERY VERY AWKWARD when serving. Next time, I want to use farfalle. I think that would work beautifully!

The next "problem" I came up against is simply a matter of taste. I like diced tomatoes, Jason doesn't. The recipe called for 21/2 lbs of diced tomatoes... I didn't think it was a huge deal, but Jason would have just opted to simply not eat it (and pout the ENTIRE time) if he even saw the can of diced tomatoes within 100 feet of the stove. I tried to crush the diced tomatoes as much as possible, but they were stubborn! I desperately need a food processor. pronto.

It ended up being a crowd pleaser though, despite all of these little boo boo's! My sister, who tends to find a reason to cut down everything I do, told me that it tasted like it came from a restaurant :) Jason even liked it, because the diced tomatoes kind of dispersed in the sauce and he ended up not even getting any in his serving. His only request was that next time, I take the sausage out of the casings so the meat is more chunky and in smaller bites, and maybe use pork instead of chicken. This, coming from the pickiest eater on the face of the planet, was a HUGE compliment! He discovered something new he likes to eat, and actually admitted to liking sweet potatoes! I will definately be making those soon... I think my little boy is finally growing up! Mom and David ate 2 servings EACH, and only left a little in the pan because I told them I wanted some to bring with me for lunch today.

Anyway, on with the recipe (pictures to follow as soon as I upload them!)

Source: Katie, Good Things Catered
Ingredients:
1 box pasta of choice (I used Publix issue fetuccini)
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
4 links of chicken sausage with spinach, sliced into 1/4 inch thick rounds
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 28oz can of diced tomatoes, crushed with back of spoon
1/2 tsp salt
splash heavy whipping cream
1/4 c. flat leaf parsley, chopped fine
1 c. fontina cheese, grated (my only substitution... I used italian blend shredded cheese because the fontina at Publix was $6 for 1/2 lb!)
1/2 c. garlic and her bread crumbs

Directions:
-In large Dutch oven of lightly salted water, cook pasta according to directions to just al dente (still firm).
-Transfer pasta to large colander and set aside to drain.
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-In Dutch oven, now empty, add olive oil and bring up to almost smoking.
-Add chicken sausage, and cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, about 5 minutes.
-Add garlic and crushed pepper and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
-Add diced tomatoes and salt and stir to scrape up all browned bits
-Bring to boil and reduce to simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
-Add cream, stir to combine, add pasta and parsley, toss for one minute.
-Sprinkle on cheese and then bread crumbs and bake, uncovered, for 10 minutes or until bubbly