This is from one of my many favorite restaurants in Downtown Saratoga Springs. This is where Chuck took me for my Birthday Dinner, the sweetie.
It’s one of those sultry, dark little places that’s always has light jazzy music in the background and is full of the sounds of clinking glasses. It’s perfectly romantic and the food is to die for. Every time we go there is something different on the menu or in the specials that makes our little hearts just flutter, whether it be a braised rabbit, hydroponic lettuce, homemade pasta, quail stuffed with sausage & herbs, a bowl of pasta piled high with seafood or even just the bread they put on every table. It’s all so good.
Also if it happens to be your birthday, be prepared for one of those impeccably dressed waiters to feed you your first bite of desert after a whole group of them sings to you in Italian. It’s totally embarrassing, you’ll be red, but it’s ok even the free lemon gelato they give you if you don’t order desert is amazing, so just go with it.
This dish is my own take/imitation on one of their dishes, the one in fact that I had on my birthday. It was pretty amazing, and seemed so simple I had to give it a try in my own kitchen.
I did in fact buy a full pound of sausage, but the rest was popped into some breakfast burritos for us to finish out the week, since I’m trying really, really hard to actually eat a full healthy breakfast, and something more than a granola bar and tea.
All in all I think I was able to successfully recreate their dish, it was as easy as I thought, and absolutely delicious. I think it may become another one of those staple meals I make around these parts.
Penne Con Finochietto: Fennel Sausage & Sun dried Tomato Pasta
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2 Servings
Ingredients
- ½ lb mild Italian sausage
- 1 small fennel bulb, chopped
- 1/3 cup diced oil packed sun dried tomatoes
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 2 ½ cups cooked pasta (aldente)
- Fresh grated Parmesan cheese (for garnish)
Instructions
- In a large skillet cook the sausage until browned.
- Drain well and add fennel. You may need to add a touch of oil to stop the fennel from
- sticking. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the fennel begins to brown, stirring and
- breaking up the sausage.
- Add the sun dried tomatoes, rosemary, and cook for an additional minute.
- Add the wine and cook for another 2-3 minutes until it has reduced to half.
- Adjust seasoning and add pasta to the pan; cooking for just a few seconds, while tossing all the ingredients together.
- Serve immediately topped with Parmesan cheese. (Serves 2)
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