I make this one to watch with Good Fellas. Shave the garlic nice and thin, like Pauly, but don’t use a razor blade like he does in the movie. A sharp knife is fine.
| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 40 min |
| Prep: | 15 min |
| Cook: | 25 min |
| Yield: | 4 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 pound bucatini pasta (hollow fat spaghetti)
- Salt
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage
- 4 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
- 1 bulb fennel, trimmed, quartered and core cut away, very thinly sliced
- 1 small yellow onion, very thinly sliced
- 2 cubanelle peppers, seeded and very thinly sliced
- Pepper
- 1 cup dry white wine or stock, eyeball it
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed San Marzano (Italian imported) tomatoes
- 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus some to pass at table
- 1 cup basil, 20 leaves, shredded or torn
- Crusty bread, for mopping
Instructions
- Place a large pot of water on to boil for pasta. Salt water and add bucatini and cook to al dente.
- While water comes to boil and pasta cooks, make the sauce. Heat a large, deep nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 turn of the pan. Add sausage to the skillet and break up the sausage into small bits. Brown sausage all over then transfer to a paper towel lined plate. Return pan to heat and add 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan, the garlic, fennel, onions and peppers. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper. Cook, turning frequently, 7 to 8 minutes until tender but do not allow the fennel and onions to brown ¿ reduce heat a bit if they begin to. Add the wine or stock next and reduce 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and the sausage. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until pasta is done.
- Drain the pasta very well and add to the sauce. Sprinkle the pasta with 1/2 cup cheese, a couple of handfuls, then toss pasta with thick sauce to combine. Transfer pasta to a large shallow platter and cover with the pasta with basil leaves. Serve with extra cheese and pass crusty bread at the table to mop up the plates.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 4 servings |
| Calories | 880 |
| Total Fat | 27 g |
| Saturated Fat | 9 g |
| Carbohydrates | 107 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 11 g |
| Sugar | 13 g |
| Protein | 43 g |
| Cholesterol | 47 mg |
| Sodium | 1530 mg |
Reviews
I loved it
Absolutely delicious and very hearty. Perfect for a cool evening
The best use of fennel ever!!
Luvyalots Racheal Ray!!..!!..
I can’t even count the amount of times I’ve made this ! Soooooo Good!!!
Delicious!! I would definitely make this again….it was easy and tasty!
A wonderfully tasteful recipe I will make again. Cut the recipe back a tad as there are only 2 of us. Added 1 tsp fennel seed slightly crushed into skillet when frying onion & vegetables. Left out the peppers and added a pinch of pepper flakes. Added a rib of celery. Used a whole fennel – no need to remove heart. It is tender and sweet. If you have a mandolin, used for onion, celery, and fennel. Used chicken broth and 1 Tbsp vodka in lieu of white wine (didn’t have any. On finishing and adjusting flavor, added some chopped olives, toasted pine-nuts, 1/3 tsp of original Maggi, 1 Tbsp of red wine vinegar, a pinch of cinnamon, a tsp of sugar, and frozen peas.
My wife said it was “restaurant quality”.
My wife said it was “restaurant quality”.
I had this made by a friend and loved it, so I made it for my family tonight. Since we like spicy, I did mix both mild and spicy sausage and did the same with the peppers, I doubled the recipe (and yes, it makes a lot! and it was fantastic, from kids to adults everyone loved it and went back for seconds! I will make this again!
My wife and I just love this dish. It does make way too much – we usually halve the recipe and I figure it feeds about six.
4 servings??? Maybe for 4 NFL linebackers! Made WAY too much and since we’re not leftover pasta fans…. It was tasty but just seemed like too much work for the end result.