Cavatelli With Sage Butter & Spicy Sausage

Step 1: Put a large pot of water on to boil and salt it well.

Step 2: Meanwhile, put the ground sausage that you have made into 6 inch rolls into the saute pan with 1/2 cup of water.

Step 3: After 10 minutes, flip the sausages over and simmer the for another 5 minutes add more water if needed.

Step 4: After 15 minutes, the sausages should be firm and cooked through.

Step 5: Remove the sausages to a cutting board and slice them into coins just shy of 1/2 inch.

Step 6: In same pan dicard water.

Step 7: Add 1 tablespoon of the butter to the pan and turn the heat to medium-high, after a minute, add the sausage coins in an even layer and let them cook, untouched, unstirred, unfussed with, until they’re deeply browned on the first side. (If there’s not enough room to brown all the sausage in one pan — which there will very probably not be — split it between two pans or brown it in two batches and use as additional tablespoon of butter).

Step 8: Flip and brown them on the B side. The browning is integral to the ultimate depth of flavor of the finished dish — don’t stint on it.

Step 9: When the sausage is browned, remove it from the pan (a plate lined with paper towels is a nice place to hold it) and return the pan to the burner.

Step 10: Keep the heat at medium-high and add the sage, the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter, and a few twists of white pepper.

Step 11: Stir the butter and scrape the browned bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. After a minute or two, it should stop foaming and start to take on color, that’s when you should drop the ricotta cavatelli into the boiling water. Continue to cook the butter until it’s deeply browned and fragrant, about 4 minutes more, which should be just about how long the cavatelli takes to cook.

Step 12: Do not drain the cavatelli too thoroughly. The water clinging to the pasta will give the sauce body. Add it to the butter sauce along with the sausage and stir.

Step 13: Add the cheese, stir again, and portion the cavatelli among several serving plates.

Step 14: Scatter each with a couple of pinches of parsley.

Step 15: Serve immediately.