Tagliatelle with Sausage, Basil and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

I have raved about Mario Batali on numerous occasions, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading his most recent cookbook, Molto Italiano. But I am a "rogue" cook at heart, never following recipes. I finally got around to trying one of his fabulous recipes. This one was quite a treat; double tomatoey goodness with some white wine to balance it all out.

Mario (yes, we're on a first name basis) suggests homemade tagliatelle and I went for it. The funny thing is that I usually make pasta based on Marcella Hazen's recipe but after looking at Mario's I decided that I had to give it a try. His recipe calls for more eggs and he even suggested adding tomato paste, which I hadn't considered. So I gave it a try. Turns out I really loved his recipe. It was shocking to discover a new recipe after having used the same one for the past 20 years.

With the added incentive of making a creative pasta dish as host of the 194th week of Presto Pasta Night, what did I have to lose? I loved how the color of the pasta blends with the tomato sauce and while I feared the extra eggs would make the pasta too soft, it was just as "toothsome" as Mario had said.

This is my third time hosting Presto Pasta Night and I love doing it! If you want to participate, make a pasta dish, blog about it before this Friday and send a link to the post to kirstenmlindquist (at) gmail (dot) com and ruth (at) 4every kitchen (dot) com by this Thursday night.  Check back on Friday, December 17 for the round-up.

Tomato Tagliatelle with Sausage, Sun-dried Tomatoes and Basil

1/2 lb tagliatelle (homemade if possible)
1 tablespoon salt
6 large garlic cloves, sliced in rounds
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 sweet Italian sausages, casings removed and crumbled
6 sun-dried tomatoes, sliced in ribbons
1/2 cup dry white wine (Sauvignon Blanc, Soave)
5 tablespoons tomato paste
12 basil leaves, sliced in ribbons

In a large skillet heat the olive oil over medium high heat for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes until it starts to color. Add the sausage and sun-dried tomatoes and mix together well. Add the white wine and scrape up all of the bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the tomato paste and cook over lowered heat for another 2 minutes. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil and add salt and cook the pasta when the sauce is almost done; if using fresh made pasta, it will cook in 3-4 minutes. Drain pasta and return to pot and scrape all of the sauce on top of pasta and mix well. Add basil and serve.

Hugs!

Recipes currently inspiring me:

Mushroom and Feta Phyllo Pie at Closet Cooking
Vanilla Spiced Eggnog at Nutmeg Nanny
Lentil Salad with Tuna and Preserved Lemon at Stacey Snacks