Sausage and broccoli pasta doesn’t exactly sound like a dream on paper. It sounds like a backup meal, the kind you improvise when there’s nothing left in the fridge. And yet, it’s exactly this type of dish that finds its way onto the table every two weeks, almost without thinking.
Ingredients :
- Italian turkey sausage — This is the centerpiece. We’re looking for an Italian-style seasoned turkey sausage—fennel, garlic, herbs. It needs to be removed from its casing and crumbled in the pan. If you can’t find any, a spicy chicken sausage works just fine. Avoid sausages that are too smooth or thin: they won’t give you those crispy crumbles that make the dish.
- Broccoli — Cut the florets small—really small, no bigger than a walnut. The smaller they are, the faster they cook and the better they integrate with the pasta without staying in big chunks on your fork. A bag of pre-washed florets saves you five minutes.
- Short pasta — Farfalle, orecchiette, mezze rigatoni, penne—doesn’t matter, as long as it’s short. Short pasta holds the sauce, and the sausage nestles into the hollows. Spaghetti completely misses the point of this dish.
- Freshly grated parmesan — Pre-grated bagged parmesan doesn’t melt the same way—it tends to clump instead of forming a smooth sauce. If you can, buy a wedge and grate it at the last second. A block keeps for several weeks in the fridge wrapped in paper.
