Recipe: Butterfly Pasta with Peas, Tomatoes, Sausage and Cream

BUTTERFLY PASTA WITH PEAS,
TOMATOES, SAUSAGE AND CREAM

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 yellow onion, minced
8 ounces hot Italian sausage
1 pound ripe plum tomatoes, grated*
1/3 cup heavy (whipping) cream
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds English peas, shelled, or 2 cups frozen petite peas
1 pound farfalle (butterfly) pasta
1/4 cup freshly ground parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.

Heat the olive oil in a skillet over moderately low heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 10 minutes.

Remove the sausage from its casing and add it to the skillet, breaking it up with a fork. Cook just until the sausage loses most of its pinkness.

Add the tomatoes and simmer gently for about 5 minutes.

Stir in the cream and remove from the heat. Season with salt and pepper.

Put the peas in a sieve that fits inside the pot of water, resting on the edge of the pot, and cook them in the boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes. Lift them out and add them to the skillet. Keep the cooking water at a boil.

Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until 1 minute shy of al dente. Set aside 1 cup of the pasta water, then drain the pasta and return it to the warm pot over moderately low heat. Add the sauce and cook for about 1 minute, stirring, to allow the pasta to absorb some of the sauce. Moisten with reserved pasta water as needed.

Stir in the cheese and serve immediately.

*To produce a seedless, skinless tomato pulp, grate seeded Roma tomato halves on the large holes of a grater.

Servings: 6
Adapted from source: Four Seasons Pasta: A Year of Inspired Recipes in the Italian Tradition by Janet Fletcher