Pasta with peas, sausage, and ricotta

i feel pretty much horrible that i haven't cooked dinner in about a week. but i guess that's what happens when you get busy. i thought i would make it up to myself tonight by trying a new recipe. i was watching "everyday italian" last week and saw a really tasty looking dish with peas and italian sausage. i went straight to the website and saved the recipe. the outcome was just ok. it seemed a little bit bland to me, but it may have just needed salt. i get scared of over salting things. oh well. i gave it a go! take note: the amounts called for in the recipe make A LOT of pasta, so you may want to cut it down and play it by ear.

1 lb fettucine, spaghetti, ect (a long skinny pasta)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped (i used minced from the jar)
1 lb italian sausage (remove casings)
1 lb frozen peas, defrosted
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese (in this instance, it's not ok to substitute with cottage cheese)
basil and salt to taste


bring a large pot of water to boil for your pasta. don't forget to salt the water! cook pasta until tender but still firm. drain the pasta, but keep about 2 cups of the pasta water.

while pasta is cooking, heat olive oil and garlic in a LARGE skillet. add sausage and brown while breaking it up into pieces like ground beef. remove the sausage once it's browned, and add the peas to the pan. smoosh up some of the peas with a wooden spoon. i actually used a ladle for this and it worked really well. turn off the heat.



by this time, your pasta should be done. add the ricotta to the skillet with the peas, and then add the pasta as well. if the pasta is really dry and stuck together, ladle in some of the reserved pasta water. add sausage, basil, and salt, and toss to coat. this can be a bit tough in a skillet. i used tongs and it seemed to work out ok. you should serve this immediately while it's still hot. top with parmesan cheese!