Sausage Puttanesca with Bocconcini

Thursday I went home for the night to get my laundry done for a doctor's appointment Friday morning, naturally the first thing that was discussed when I decided to come home was what's for dinner. Since it's open house season, catching my mother at dinner time was impossible so it was just me and daddy-o.

He's been trying to perfect his italian sausage recipe all summer and he thought he found a jack pot and wanted me to try, now I'm not a huge fan of italian sausage plain so I thought we should have it in pasta. We sent emails back and forth of recipes and decided on said recipe, and it's a darn good thing we did because it was delicious. So delicious. Puttanesca is one of mom's best dishes and she makes it with shrimp and scallops so I was intrigued to see how this one varied. The sauce was definitely thicker but paired with the italian sausage it was perfect.

My father was in charge of getting the ingredients and made the mistake of asking if I needed anything. Well, yes thank you for asking. Bread? Garlic tuscan. Dessert? Anything chocolate. Pie or Cake? You pick. Pasta shape? Fettucine or anything thick. I was deemed needy. But I think he already knew that :-)

Sausage Puttanesca with Bocconcini
adapted from: Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound italian sausage (removed from the casing)
1 large yellow onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 anchovies, mashed
1 tablespoo dried italian seasoning
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 tablespoons capers, drained
1 cup pitted olives, chopped (mix of kalamata and green)
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
1 pound pappardelle
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
8 ounces bocconcini, chopped in half
Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions:
1. In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat; add sausage, onion, garlic, anchovies and italian seasoning. Break apart the sausage as it cooks into bite size pieces.
2. Once sausage is browned, add tomatoes, capers and olives. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes.
3. Cook pappardelle according to package directions. Mix fresh herbs and bocconcini into sauce and toss immediately with drained spaghetti. Serve with plenty of fresh parm.