Easy for Kids to Help With

Original article can be found @ TheSpec.com

Delicious spring menu features fresh ingredients, easy for kids to help with. In Whatever Happened to Sunday Dinner?, Lisa Caponigri has created 52 menus, one for every week of the year. They stem from years of cooking with her family each Sunday starting in her childhood.

Here is a recipe from the book. “I first enjoyed this dish on the island of Sardinia, where it was served to me with homemade sausage and the pasta della casa, ear-shaped orecchiette,” Caponigri writes.

Makes 8 to 10 servings

2 lb (900 g) Italian sausage

2 lb (900 g) rigatoni, penne OR orecchiette

1 cup (250 mL) extra-virgin olive oil

6 cloves garlic, crushed into a paste

3 lb (1.4 kg) broccoli Rabe, stems trimmed and cut into 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces

1 tsp (5 mL) red pepper flakes

1 tsp (5 mL) sea salt

4 tbsp (60 mL) unsalted butter

1 cup (250 mL) grated Pecorino Romano

Remove sausages from casings and crumble. In a large skillet over high heat, brown sausage. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

Wipe the fat out of the pan.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente (if using rigatoni or orecchiette, cook for 8 minutes; if using penne, cook for 9 minutes).

Heat olive oil and garlic in wiped-out skillet over medium-high heat until garlic is golden.

Add broccoli Rabe, red pepper flakes and salt and cook for 5 minutes, stirring a few times.

Add sausage and butter and cook over high heat for 5 minutes, stirring a few times.

Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup (250 mL) of the cooking water and transfer pasta to skillet.

Mix well, adding water if pasta seems too dry.

Pour into a large warm serving bowl, sprinkle cheese over top and serve.

Approximate nutrition per serving (when serving 10): 790 calories, 39 g fat, 35 g protein, 76 g carbohydrates, 3 g fibre

The Canadian Press