A brief statement of purpose

There are already about a billion food blogs, so what might be a justification of yet another one, and who am I to do it?

What I aim to do in this blog is more than simply provide recipes. While recipes of my own will, in fact, be posted, some of the blog will consist of a variety of comments about restaurants and their practices, food preparation tips, personal annoyances (such as loud restaurants and the epidemic of misspellings on menus), and whatever else pops into my head relating to what we put in our mouths (and swallow, I hasten to add). The whole thing is meant to be somewhat provocative. I hope, if nothing else, it won't be boring. I, of course, solicit reader participation.

As for who I am and why I think I might have something to contribute to public discussions on this essential and pleasurable activity - eating - you'll have to click here.



Saturday, September 4, 2010

Rigatoni with roasted red bell pepper and Italian sausage

News flash: I’m going to eliminate the numbering of the different steps in recipes. I don’t see the point. After all, the paragraphs are sequential, so why number them? Besides, it’s just possible we’re allotted only a certain number of typed numbers in our lives, and I don’t want to expend my entire allotment. Then again, that’s a bit too supernatural for me. Some one or some thing would have to be doing the allotments, right? Not at all likely. I’m still dispensing with the numbering, though.

This recipe is very easy to put together, particularly if you buy jarred roasted red bell peppers. I’ve pan-browned, roasted, and broiled bell peppers, and I fail to taste any advantages of doing this oneself. The smoked pimiento powder lends a wonderful flavor to what would be an otherwise good but prosaic sauce. Italian sausage is commonly found in either “sweet” or spicy forms. Your call. 



1 12-16 oz jar roasted red bell peppers, drained (or do it yourself)
½ lb rigatoni
Onion, 1 cup, chopped
Garlic, 1-2 tsp minced
Smoked pimiento powder, 1 Tbs
Salt and pepper
Heavy cream, 1 cup or more
Italian sausage, either sweet or spicy, (½ lb), meat removed from the casings
Marsala, ¼ cup
Fresh yellow bell pepper, seeds removed, minced or finely chopped
Goat cheese
Red chile pepper flakes (optional)
Put in a food processor the roasted red bell peppers, the smoked pimiento, and heavy cream. Puree and add salt and pepper. 
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat and brown the sausage. After it’s browned and brown bits appear on the bottom of the skillet, add the optional chile flakes, turn the heat to high, pour in a quarter cup or so of Marsala, scrape up the flavor-enhancing browned bits, and continue cooking until the liquid is almost gone. Drain and put the meat in a bowl. If you leave behind a small amount of liquid, that's fine.
Put another teaspoon of olive oil in the skillet and sauté the onion and garlic, but don’t allow the garlic to brown. Return the meat to the skillet and add the red bell pepper sauce, and keep it warm. 
Quickly saute the yellow bell pepper.

I'm assuming the pasta has been cooked and drained at this point. Return it to the pot and mix. Put the pasta mixture on plates, scatter the yellow bell pepper bits over all, and place a good chunk of the goat cheese atop.

2 comments:

  1. Yum! I will try this one. Bet I can find goat cheese in E-burg at the Mexican food mart. Marsala may be a bigger challenge....

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  2. Stef - Goat cheese is widely available now in most larger grocery stores and even some smaller ones. They are frequently found in the form of cylinders or in pyramid-shaped containers with flat tops. Marsala is a fortified wine which almost any liquor store will have.

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