Food with My Dude #1: One Pan Orecchiette Pasta

Hello, all!

Pretty weird for me to post on a Thursday, but this is a new series that I’ll post weekly called Food with My Dude. This series may include meals that Stephen and I have tried to make on our own or are meal kits that we’ve bought and have made. The ratings are also based on my personal opinion, but it’ll give you an idea of where it ranks!

This dish is one of the first meals that Stephen and I made together early on in our relationship. I remember the first time we made it and I just loved it. Before we moved, we made it weekly!

Here’s the recipe we used, which was found on All Recipes:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• salt to taste
• 8 ounces spicy Italian sausages, casings removed
• 3 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, divided, or as needed [1 box]
• 1 1/4 cups orecchiette pasta, or more to taste [1 box]
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped arugula, or to taste
• 1/4 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, or to taste

Price:

$$

Disclaimer

Well, you’ll find out soon enough that I tend to stray from the recipe sometimes. It drives Stephen crazy sometimes because he follows cooking directions by the book. If it says to stir something for four minutes, you bet he’s going to stir the mix for four minutes– and with a timer to make sure!

This recipe has to be one that I definitely stray from the recipe, and I think it’s a much easier method to follow. Although, I do void out the purpose of using one pan, I’m fine with it! We aren’t huge cheese fans, so we omit the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. If you include this ingredient, I’m curious to know what you think of it and if it makes a big difference.

At first, we bought the Italian sausage with the packaged individual links, but why not just buy the ground up sausage instead? This way, we don’t need to cut the casing from the links! So, less messy and less time to deal with prepping them.

First off, you start off with these five ingredients [or six if you use cheese]. One ingredient that we switched out was parsley for arugula. I’ve used parsley to see if it made any difference. It tastes just the same, so I’m saving a few dollars when I use parsley instead of arugula! Now, you chefs might know the taste difference, but my palette finds them similar enough to substitute for me to use parsley instead.

Even though the recipe only calls for 8 ounces of spicy sausage, we just double the recipe so we can have leftovers. So, this means we double the onions, use all of the noodles, and use all of the chicken broth.

This is where I stray even more.

Okay, the directions call for the onions to be cooked with the meat, but why? [I know, I know. One pan, but shhh.] When cooking the onions with the meat, you just have to drain it too! It’s difficult enough to keep meat in a pan, now I have to pay attention to onions that may retain the fat? [Probably the point? I’m not sure. Now I’m wondering about its purpose.]

I’ve been using the large stock pot to cook the onions while the meat is cooking in another skillet simultaneously.

After the sausage is cooked and drained, I then place it in the stock pot with the chicken broth and noodles. I don’t think that my largest skillet would adequately hold the meal in one pan if I tried, so it’s easier to just throw it in the stock pot.

I then crank up the stove eye up to High and watch it steam away! Of course, checking it every few minutes and stirring it around to make sure things are cooking evenly and not burning.

About 15 or more minutes later, the broth significantly reduces. This is where I toss in the parsley flakes, and then it’s finished!

The final product is this brothless dish of mini hat noodles, haha. This is my first recipe to ever use orecchiette noodles. They tend to take longer to cook, especially if they’re stacked on top of one another.

Taste: At first, it has a slight chicken noodle flavor — because of the broth — but the hot sausage gives it a twist. It makes a huge difference with the sausage because it just gives it a certain flavor that I’m not great at describing yet, haha. Trust me, this is a dish to try!

Rating:

Heat level:

🌶🌶🌶

*From here on out in this series, the heat level rating is set for those who do not normally eat spicy food.

Although, you can substitute the hot sausage for the mild flavor. I have not personally cooked with the mild level, but it will alter the level of spice from my own rating.

Let me know how it turns out if you do attempt this recipe. Take your pick to follow the directions or not, haha. In the end, they result to this yummy bowl.

I’m really excited about this series and I hope some of you are as well!