What's cookin'? - Pasta with Basil Cream Sauce

I've been on a pasta 'kick' the last two weeks!

When we are not grilling outdoors I've been 'slaving' away over the stove on new recipes I've found and I've wanted to try.

This recipe was actually the third in this series of pasta recipes. I need to take a break for a few days or my family is going to explode!

This recipe was really tasty! They say that "three's a charm"... and in this case, it was! I finally learned not to use a whole pound box of pasta for whatever I am making! Most of these recipes use 12 ounces. That translates into more sauce, and still plenty pasta. (I don't know if I'm trying to feed a whole army or what.) I wonder if the rest of the world sells their pasta in 12 ounce packages?.... (ours is 16 oz.) 

Part of the problem was that some of the recipes I have found use metric measurements. I have truthfully only used the metric system in science classes. I remember learning it for the first time in grade school. Our teacher told us we had to learn it because we were going to soon convert to it.... I think the rest of the world moved on without us!

 So, to those of you who might see this in  future recipes, I say, "400 grams is equal to about 2c". 

You learn something new every day!

Even if you have to search Google for the answer.

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Pasta with Sausage and Basil Cream Sauce

Here are the cast of characters:

Ingredients:

12 ounces rigatoni

2T olive oil

4-5 links Italian sausage (I used sweet)

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1c white wine

1c light cream

1c chicken broth

2 cups (or cans) chickpeas, drained

1 1/4c parmesan cheese

handful of fresh basil, roughly chopped

Salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions:

• Bring pasta pot full of salted water to a boil.

• With 1 T olive oil, cook sausage in skillet until browned and thoroughly cooked. Remove sausages and drain on paper towel.

• In same pan, add second T olive oil. Add chopped onion and garlic, stirring, until they begin to soften (about two minutes)

• Add broth, cream, wine and chickpeas.

Stir and season generously with salt and pepper. Simmer uncovered 10-12 minutes.

• Now is a good time to cook your pasta 'al dente'!

• While sauce is simmering, cuts sausage diagonally into 1/2" slices. Add to cream sauce for the remainder of its simmering time.

• Add cheese and stir.

• Add most of basil, stir, and cook an additional 2 minutes.

• Add cooked, drained pasta to pan. Stir to incorporate sauce.

• Serve with additional cheese, fresh basil, and a drizzle of olive oil.

Mangia!