Rigatoni and Italian Sausage Tomato Ragout
This simple and fabulously delicious recipe has been one of our family favourites for many years! Our younger son injured his wrist playing soccer when he was 5 years old and as we sat and waited at the Children’s After-Hours Clinic, I flipped through an old magazine that was in the waiting room (this was pre-Covid, when you could actually touch something that someone else had touched – making sure to wash your hands afterwards as that has not changed) and this was a recipe in the magazine. I tried to memorize it as best I could – this was pre-cellphone days so I couldn’t simply snap a photo of it. As it turned out, our son needed an x-ray so it was a long night with another wait at the hospital for the x-ray and then a temporary plaster cast put on as they were pretty certain his sweet little wrist was broken but the pediatric fracture specialist wasn’t on call.
I made this pasta dish the next night for dinner – making it my own since!! And each time I make it I recall the events of my boy’s broken wrist that led to this recipe in our repertoire.
To finish the story… His wrist was indeed broken and he was so very brave when a few days later (why it took so long?!) we got the call to go back to the hospital for them to realign the fragile wrist bones (which wasn’t very pleasant for my little guy) and put on a fiberglass cast to hold it firm to heal – of course he chose Toronto Maple Leaf blue being the sports nut and loyal team fan he was and still is these 20+ years later!
On to the recipe! Carrots cooked this way maintain their nutritional fiber and Vitamin A goodness in this wonderful veggie and it becomes soft and sweet when stewed in the sauce. Garlic and onion are not only flavourful but healthy as well. Diced tomatoes make the simple ragout sauce. And get a good quality Italian sausage - that you have made or from a friend who made their own and shared with you (how lucky are you!) or from a good butcher or grocery stores often now offer packaged meats and sausage products that have no chemicals and are made from animals who never received antibiotics or hormones.
As always, when you make this recipe, please post a photo of your rigatoni goodness and tag my IG account or leave a comment with your thoughts!
Prep Time: 10 minutes / Cook time: 45 Minutes / Total: 55 minutes / Makes: 4 -6 servings
Ingredients
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 medium Onion – diced
3 Garlic Cloves – sliced (and left to rest for 10 minutes before adding)
4 Italian Sausages – pushed out of their casing (see photo)
2 large Carrots – cut into matchsticks
1 28 oz / 796 ml can Diced Tomatoes, including juice
2 teaspoons Dried Basil
2 teaspoons Dried Parsley
Sea Salt and Pepper – to taste (I use Herbamare seasoned sea salt)
1 Cup Water
1 heaping teaspoon plain Sea Salt
450g Rigatoni Noodles
Parmesan – grated (or Nutritional Yeast if you want to keep this vegan but still have that sprinkle for the top)
How It’s Made
Slice the garlic and set aside (letting the garlic rest for 10 minutes allows the health benefit components to release)
In large skillet, over medium heat, add the olive oil and allow it to get hot.
Add the diced onions to the skillet. Stir and cook the onions until they are a very light golden colour.
Add the sliced garlic and stir.
Squeeze the sausage meat into the skillet – see the somewhat awkward photo. I squeeze the sausage in the middle and hold tight with one hand and push out the meat in stages into the skillet with the other hand. Flip it over and do the other half. It will look like little meatballs in the skillet. Or you can slice the sausage open and with a spoon break it up and add to the skillet that way.
Cook the meat, stirring, until it is browned all around – 5 minutes.
Add the carrot sticks and stir to ensure they are covered in the oil and cook until the carrot is slightly softened – 3-5 minutes.
Add the basil and parsley and the diced tomatoes with their juice. Season with salt and pepper. Stir the mixture so it’s nice and mixed up. Cover, lower the heat to have the mixture simmer.
After a half hour, open the lid and see how much liquid there is. To make the ragout, the liquid should have reduced substantially – to the point where it looks more dry than wet. Add 1 cup of water and stir the mixture around. Turn the heat to low and allow it to simmer gently. It’s this reducing the liquid down and adding a bit more water in that makes the more intensely flavoured ragout sauce.
Having said that, if when you lift the lid there is still plenty of liquid, that’s fine too – don’t add the additional water - both versions are delicious!
Fill a large pot with water, add the heaping teaspoon sea salt and set the pot on the stove on high heat to boil. When the water comes to a boil, add the rigatoni noodles and cook to the time directions on the package. You want the pasta al dente so taste test a noodle once it gets to the time the package says (or even a minute before then!) to make sure it is done. You don’t want to overcook the pasta. Drain well.
Add the drained pasta to the pan with the sausage and sauce. Stir to combine. Plate and sprinkle with parmesan cheese (or nutritional yeast) and a grinding of fresh pepper.
Enjoy!
Variations:
Use penne in place of rigatoni – large tubular-shaped pasta works best for this dish.
Add 1-2 cups sliced mushrooms when you add the sausage pieces. Let the mushrooms release their liquid and roast to a golden brown.
For a green veggie in the dish, in addition to the carrots (and mushrooms if you are adding those too) add a big handful or two of baby spinach (kale could be too chewy in this dish) to the tomato ragout about 10 minutes before it’s done (about 35 minutes into the simmer).
Add 2-3 slices of chopped bacon to the pan instead of the olive oil and keep the bacon in the pan once it releases some of its fat to cook the onions and garlic.
If you want this vegan, sprinkle with Nutritional Yeast in place of parmesan cheese.
