BipolarLawyerCook

I’ve been crazy busy and not cooking much, so tonight I said, “screw work, I’m cooking dinner.” Nothing special, but I had some nice broccoli in the Boston Organics delivery, as well as a surfeit of onions and some mild Italian sausage in the freezer. I also had some ricotta salata that I picked up at the W. Roxbury Roche Bros., after asking the cheese counter lady to cut the pre-wrapped block in half. (I like cheese, but not a half a pound at a time.)

So here goes:

Parboil 1 pkg. of 6 mild italian sausages in a large saute pan (10 in. min.) with just enough water to cover the bottom of the pan by 1/4-1/2 inch.
At the same time, chop and steam your broccoli with a liberal sprinkling of salt in the steaming water– I had three smallish heads.
Thinly slice a medium yellow onion, after halving it.

At the same time, bring a pot of water to boil, salt liberally, and cook 1/2 lb. Trader Joe’s Gluten-Free rice rigatoni (tastes like Tinkyada, probably is…) (or the regular pasta of your choice), appx. 10 min.

Once the sausage is parboiled, and the water has cooked off, add some olive oil, and cover the sausages to let them brown. When the first side is browned, turn, and add the onion, salt, and liberal amounts of Penzey’s Tuscan Sunset and extra Aleppo Pepper, thereafter shaking the pan. Reduce heat to med. low, covering and shaking the pan from time to time, until onions are browned/caramelized. When the broccoli is 3/4 done, drain it and add it to the sausage pan, covering and shaking again. Turn off the heat.

When the pasta is cooked, drain and rinse the gf rice pasta in hot water or as directed on the package. Pour a glug of olive oil into the pasta pot, add the sausage, onions and broccoli, toss in the oil, and add back the pasta, tossing to coat everything, 1-2 min. Add the juice of one lemon and its zest, then turn off the heat.

Serve in pasta bowls, topped with ricotta salata that you’ve mashed with a fork and sprinkled on top. Serve with the Better Half’s favorite red, Pillar Box Red. (I’ve got to say, this wine is too strong for me, but it is good.)