Sausage & Pepper Bolognese

Ingredients

• •  1 Lb Paccheri

  • 2 Red peppers, Sliced Thin

  • 1 Onion, Sliced Thin

  • 1-1/2 Lbs Hot Italian Sausage, removed from their casings

  • 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

  • 1 Tablespoon Chopped Calabrian Chilli

  • 2 cloves of Garlic, Sliced Thin

  • 2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste

  • 4 Tablespoons of Vodka

  • 1 Pint (2 Cups) of Heavy Cream

  • Pecorino Romano To Taste

  • Salt to taste

Instructions

1. To remove the skin of the peppers, Cut the cheeks off of the pepper so that all that remains are the seeds and the core and coat with a touch of oil and then place in the oven under the broilers and cook until the skin starts to char slightly, moving the peppers around until evenly charred all the way around. Once charred, place in a bowl and cover in plastic wrap and let it steam for 15 minutes. While that steams, prep the rest of the ingredients.

2. Slice the onion and garlic thinly.

3. By now the peppers should be steamed. Using your knife, scrape the skin off the peppers and cut them into thin slices.

4. Get a pot of water boiling. Salt the water.

5. In a large sauté pan and get it preheated on medium-high heat. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil and then get the onions in first to get them going. Season with salt and once softened and begins to turn translucent, add the peppers. Cook for a few minutes until the onions are fully translucent and soft and start to brown slightly. You just want to cook them until they are soft enough to blend smoothly. Then add the garlic, and Calabrian chilis and cook until the garlic softens and begins to slightly brown around the edges. Then add two tablespoons of tomato paste and then incorporate that into the vegetables and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then turn the heat off and deglaze with the vodka. Then slowly add the pint of cream, let cool slightly and then blend until smooth.

6. In a high rimmed sauté pan that has been preheated on high heat, add a few tablespoons of olive oil and then add the sausage. Using a flat bottomed spoon, chop up the sausage to break it down into smaller pieces and then cook until the moisture has evaporated and you start to see and hear the sausage frying in its own fat and browning. This will also build up the fond on the bottom of the pan again so once the sausage is nicely browned, deglaze the pan with a little more vodka, just enough to pick up all that flavor from the pan.

7. Add the pasta to the water and start to cook the pasta. Add the sauce to the sausage to the pan and let it simmer on low heat for about 15 minutes or until the pasta is cooked. Then 1-2 minutes before the pasta is perfectly cooked, add it to the sauce with a tablespoon or two of the pasta water, marry the sauce and the pasta until the pasta becomes perfectly al dente. Plate with some more sauce and some Pecorino Romano.