Adapted Straw and Hay

Remember that one time Patrick had an odd request for dinner? Simply ground chicken soup? You forgot, you say?! Refresh your memory here. Well that happened again. This time it was "pasta with sweet Italian sausage". Sometimes asking Patrick for dinner suggestions creates more trouble than help! Luckily I didn't have to think too hard about this one.

One of our favorite neighborhood restaurant offers such a dish! Here's how their menu describes it:

City Beverage “Straw and Grass” – Italian Sausage, Portobello Mushrooms and Rosemary on Spinach and Egg Noodles with a Parmigiano Cream Sauce and Crostini.

It's a take on the straw and hay/grass pasta dish which traditionally has both spinach and egg noodles in the dish to resemble straw and hay/grass. I believe other traditional components included prosciutto and peas (but I'm not 100% sure).

I used Ina Garten's recipe as a starting point. You can read her recipe here. I made a few modifications and switched things up a bit so it's an adapted version of Straw and Hay. Instead of prosciutto I used Patrick's request of sweet Italian sausage. Patrick & I were attempting fresh pasta again this night and I thought making two batches of pasta (egg pasta and spinach pasta) would be a bit cumbersome; I decided to make the egg pasta and throw in some fresh spinach to the cream sauce. Read on for what we did!

Adapted Straw and Hay
Ingredients
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3/4 lb sweet Italian sausage
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cups cream
4 oz basil goat cheese*
1/2 lb fettuccine
1 small package frozen peas, cooked according to package directions
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
   *Ina Garten's recipe called for gorgonzola which you could substitute for and also fresh basil. I had basil goat cheese on hand and thought that would be a fine cheese to use for the dish.
Directions
   Fill a large pot of water with 1 tablespoon of salt and bring to a boil. Once boiling add pasta and cook according to directions.
   Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook until browned and no pink remains. Remove to a plate and set aside. Wipe the remaining fat out of the pan.
   Add the other tablespoon of oil to the pan and begin to saute onions. Once tender add garlic and cook just until fragrant (one minute more). Add the cream, goat cheese, and a small handful of the Parmesan; salt and pepper to taste. Bring the sauce to a boil; lower the heat and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes.
   Then add cooked pasta to the sauce (reserving pasta water). Return the sausage to the sauce and add the peas and fresh spinach. Toss well; add some of the reserved pasta water if the sauce needs to be loosened.
   Top with remaining Parmesan to serve.

Be on the lookout for a post detailing more of our homemade pasta adventures!