My most favorite pasta dish from a local restaurant is this creamy, tomato based, flavorful strozzapreti that is laced with sausage & finished with a drizzle of truffle oil. My love for it is so strong that I just couldn’t resist being able to have it at my fingertips any time I want… so here is exactly that. This recipe is EASY guys, seems fancy I know, but so EASY. It comes together in about 20 minutes and will be your new favorite in no time.

For a vegetarian version, you can leave out the sausage and this dish will still scream perfection. This can also easily be made gluten-free by trading out gluten free flour & noods. Make sure to enjoy this dish with a glass of your favorite red (and preferably in sweat pants).

Recipe by: The Culinary Nest

MAKES

4-6 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. strozzapreti noodles, cooked to packaging instructions (or any short cut noodle, use gluten free if desired)

1 lb. mild and/or hot sausage, uncased (omit if making vegetarian)

palamino sauce

1 small white onion, diced

1/4 cup banana or mild peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon all purpose flour (sub gluten-free if desired)

1 cup heavy cream

3/4 cup milk (2% or whole)

2 cups marinara sauce

garnish

Truffle Oil & Parmigiano Reggiano for garnish

METHOD

1. In a large pot, prepare the noodles per packaging instructions. Make sure to salt your pasta water! Drain and return to the pot.

2. In a medium sauce pan, brown the uncased sausage over medium heat while breaking it apart into small grounds with a spatula. Do this until cooked through, about 7-10 minutes. Remove the sausage from the pan and set aside, while preserving the sausage grease in the pan. (If you are OMITTING the sausage, you can skip this step and use 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil to sauté the onion & pepper blend in instead.)

3. Over medium-low heat in the same pan, add the diced onion and the banana peppers in the pan and sauté for about 5-7 minutes until cooked through and translucent. Add the garlic and sauté for about one minute, until fragrant.

4. Add the flour and stir for 1-2 minutes until well incorporated. Slowly stir in the heavy cream and milk, return the heat to medium, and bring to a light boil, stirring occasionally to prevent burning for 3-5 minutes, until thickened. Add the marinara sauce, stir well to incorporate, and let the sauce simmer for 10-15 minutes.

5. Add the cooked sausage to the palamino sauce and stir well to incorporate. Slowly pour 1/2 of the sauce over the pasta noods, and then add more as desired. I always like to spoon a little more sauce over the pasta once it’s plated. Drizzle lightly with White Truffle Oil (I recommend this one from Old World Truffles) and finish the dish with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Enjoy!!