Greek Pasta with Sausage and Cheese

Adapted: Seriouseats.com

I stumbled upon this recipe on Pinterest and have loved it ever since. I love the flavors of Greek food and the combination in this dish are unbelievable. My husband had several helpings of it and even my son, who isn't a fan of blue cheese, was chowing down on it. It has a deep, rich flavoring to it. I partnered it with demi baguettes with olive oil and Parmesan cheese and a very light Greek salad.

This dish came together quickly, as well. Although the recipe called for Greek pork sausage or sweet Italian sausages, I used the Italian sausage just for the simplicity of purchasing it. Furthermore, I doubled the amount that the original recipe called for. I also increased the pasta somewhat so that it wasn't so "saucy".  I pulled the fresh oregano from my garden and there is no flavor like it!

So, here we go!:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
12 oz sweet Italian sausages, cut into 1-inch pieces
Kosher salt, to taste
8-12 ounces penne pasta
1/2 cup white wine
1 ounce blue cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh oregano leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste


Directions:

1) Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the pasta until al dente. Before draining pasta, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water.

2) While pasta is cooking,  heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a second pan, add the sausage and cook until golden brown, stirring frequently.

3) Once the sausages are browned, add wine and turn the heat to high. Reduce the liquid (about 2 minutes) lower the heat and add the blue cheese, cream, and oregano. Once the cheese is melted, add the pasta along with some of the pasta cooking water as needed to create a creamy sauce.

 

4) Season with salt and pepper. Place on plates.  Garnish with Parmesan, on side.