Brown Butter Orecchiette with Spicy Sausage and Peas

20-30 minutes   840 Calories per serving

Everyone loves a good pasta dish, and when you can make one that only requires 6 ingredients in 30 minutes or less, that makes it even better!  Plated's brown butter orecchiette with spicy sausage and peas has been a favorite of ours, so when it popped up on the menu again I couldn't wait to make it.

Orecchiette, an Italian word meaning "little ears" is one of my favorite pastas.  Pairing it up with spicy sausage, silky sauce from butter and parmesan cheese, mixed in with sage and peas you will have a winning combination that will make this a habitual rotation in your weeknight dinners.  

Ingredients

• 1/8 ounce of sage
• 12 ounces spicy Italian sausage
• 8 ounces orecchiette pasta
• 3 packets unsalted butter
• 1 cup peas
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• salt
• pepper

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat.  Meanwhile, thinly slice sage leaves, discarding stems.  Pat sausage dry with a paper towel.
2. Season boiling water generously with salt.  Stir in orecchiette and cook until al dente, 8-9 minutes.  Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water, then drain.
3. While orecchiette cooks, heat butter in a medium high-sided pan over medium-high heat.  When butter is foamy, add sausage and cook, breaking up, until meat is browned, 4-5 minutes.  Stir in sage.  Remove pan from heat and set aside until pasta has finished cooking.
4. Once pasta has been drained, return pan with sausage to medium heat and add peas and orecchiette.  Cook until peas are warmed through, about 2 minutes. Add reserved pasta cooking water 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring and scarping up any browned bits from bottom of pan, until pasta is coated and sauce is silky.  Remove pan from heat.
5. Add all but 1 tablespoon of Parmesan to pan with orecchiette and stir to combine.  Taste and add more salt and pepper as desired.
6. Divide orecchiette between bowls, sprinkle over remaining Parmesan, and dig in!

This recipe was so delicious, that my husband went in for a whole bowl of seconds.  The spicy flavor of the sausage and the creamy flavor of the cheese melted together to create a balance of flavor profile perfection.  So when you feel the need to get out of the normal dinner routine rut...try out this winning recipe!

<3 P.S.  

If your roll up the sage leaves together, you can easily slice them to create fine ribbons which looks beautiful in the dish.   Don't be scared to show off those knife skills!