Ina Garten’s One-Pot Rigatoni Is Good for Lazy Weeknights

You actually can’t go unsuitable with an Ina Garten recipe. Each I’ve tried is an ideal, balanced success. They ship on taste and perfume, and serve up a way of satisfaction that makes me really feel genuinely good about myself. I revisit plenty of her recipes, however my winter love affair is reserved for none apart from her rigatoni with sausage and fennel.

If you happen to don’t depend the pot used to boil the noodles (I don’t), it is a one-pot meal (aka my weeknight gospel). It’s simple and speedy, and requires primary components. The seasonal fennel is good and delicate, the crumbled sausage is wealthy and savory, and since there’s wine concerned, it in some way makes me really feel like I attempted a little bit greater than I truly did. It’s hearty and comforting, warms me up on chilly winter nights, and is an absolute present for these self-indulgent, lazy evenings when all I need to do is eat and dissolve on the sofa concurrently.

The sauce, creamy with a mushy sweetness and refined warmth, will get trapped contained in the hole tubes of rigatoni and clings to its outer ridges, making each forkful a satisfying and flawless chunk. The dish is neither too sausage-y nor too fennel-y (even for those who’re not an avid fennel follower like me). Actually, all of the ingredient proportions and timings are spot-on, with every little thing precisely correctly.

You’ll begin by sautéing diced onion and fennel in olive oil till mushy and tender. After this, candy Italian sausage is added to the pot and cooked and crumbled till browned. Ina requires hyperlinks with the casings eliminated, however I normally cheat and simply purchase it already floor up. As soon as the sausage is browned, the garlic, fennel seeds, purple pepper flakes, salt, and pepper are stirred in. At this level, issues are starting to scent fairly improbable and it’s solely going to get higher.

Subsequent up, the white wine is added, which ought to be dry and unsweet (Pinot Grigio is usually my alternative). As soon as this involves a boil, you’ll pour within the heavy cream, half-and-half, and tomato paste, carry it again to a boil, then drop it right down to a gentle simmer. The sauce will look actually liquidy, however don’t stress — it can cook dinner down and thicken up completely.

Whereas the sauce does its factor, you’ll boil the rigatoni in salted water in accordance with the field directions. I’ve sturdy emotions about pasta being al dente, so I all the time set a timer and test periodically to ensure I catch it on the proper time. You possibly can drain the noodles with a colander, however for those who’d relatively skip dirtying one other dish (all the time my most well-liked possibility), be at liberty to make use of a spider or seize a lid and pour out the pasta water. Out of behavior, I all the time reserve a little bit pasta water in case I need to skinny out the consistency later. You’ll add the noodles to the sauce, combine it up, and permit the noodles to take in the flavorful sauce. After this, flip off the warmth and stir in some Parmesan and contemporary parsley. 

You possibly can plop the enormous pot of pasta proper onto the desk, together with extra Parmesan and a “assist your self” angle. Or, instantly pile a heaping portion into your bowl, bathe it with further Parm, and burrow below a sherpa throw with the remainder of the Pinot Grigio.

Get the recipe: Rigatoni with Sausage & Fennel

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