Welcome fall with this one-pot dish: Baked Pasta with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe
Nothing welcomes the fall season quite like a comforting bowl of pasta. September seems to be one of the busiest months of the year, and somehow everyone still wants dinner each night. If you’ve been reading my column for a while, you know we have a foster daughter, “L,” so there isn’t quite as much time as before to devote to cooking.
Insert this week’s recipe for a delicious, simple one-dish dinner: Baked Pasta with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe. If you can fit all the food groups into one dish, you should, especially when feeding a toddler — or anyone for that matter. This meal is so delicious, it might make it into your regular dinner menu rotation.
Any time there’s pasta and a creamy cheese sauce in a recipe, you cannot go wrong. Add Italian sausage, garlic, broccoli rabe and sage, and the whole dish goes to next-level deliciousness. I like to top it with some Parmesan cheese because why not?
Pasta is a welcomed old friend we used to enjoy, and then some food allergies and low-carb diets robbed us of that joy. We are back to full-fledged pasta eating around here, and I’m not sorry about it. Serve this pasta dish alongside an Italian salad, and dinner is ready to enjoy.
One-Pot Baked Pasta with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe
Kosher salt
12 ounces Fontina and/or aged cheddar cheese
6 garlic cloves
2 large sprigs sage
1 bunch broccoli rabe
¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound sweet or hot Italian sausage
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups half and half
1 pound ridged medium pasta shells, or large tube pasta such as lumaconi or rigatoni
Place racks in center and upper third of oven; preheat to 325 degrees. Heat a large pot of water over high heat. Add several tablespoons of salt and bring to a boil (for the pasta).
Grate 12 ounces Fontina cheese on the large holds of a box grater (you should have about 4½ cups). Smash 6 garlic cloves, peel, and coarsely chop. Pick all sage leaves from stems and set aside about 10. Finely chop remaining leaves (you should have about 1 tablespoon). Trim tough ends from 1 bunch of broccoli rabe, then cut stems to 2-inch pieces. Leave leafy ends long.
Heat a deep, large ovenproof skillet, preferably cast iron, over medium-high heat. Add ¼ cup oil and swirl to coat. Remove 1 pound sausage from casings and add to skillet. Break into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Cook, undisturbed, until sausage is browned, about 4 minutes. Stir a couple of times and continue to cook, undisturbed again, until sausage is fully cooked through, about 3 minutes longer.
Add garlic, chopped sage, and ½ teaspoon red pepper and cook, stirring until garlic is golden, about 2 minutes.
Stir in 2 cups half-and-half and simmer until sauce is thickened slightly, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low.
Gradually add about two-thirds of cheese, bit by bit, stirring constantly and letting cheese melt completely before adding more, until sauce is smooth and thick, about 3 minutes; season with salt and remove from heat.
Meanwhile, cook 1 pound pasta shells in boiling salted water 2 minutes shy of package instructions (8-10 minutes depending on type). During the last 2 minutes, add all of the broccoli rabe to the pot with pasta. Drain in colander and shake several times to remove excess water. Return pasta and broccoli rabe to empty pasta pot.
Add cheesy sausage mixture from skillet to pot with pasta. Stir until pasta and broccoli rabe are coated in sauce, then transfer everything back to skillet.
Cover skillet tightly with foil and bake on center rack until pasta is tender and sauce is bubbling, 30-40 minutes. Let rest a few minutes while you heat broiler.
Remove foil and top with remaining cheese. Toss sage leaves with remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a small bowl and arrange over pasta. Broil until cheese is browned and bubbling in spots, about 5 minutes (depending on strength of boiler).
Let pasta cool a minute or two before serving.
Bon Appetit
This story was originally published September 28, 2021 at 10:31 AM.