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Rigatoni with Sausage and Fennel

Rigatoni with Sausage and Fennel

3 Scoops of Sugar
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 55 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Main Dish

Ingredients
  

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 large fennel bulb chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion about half of a large onion
  • 1 pound Italian sausage I used ground and it worked well for this recipe
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon whole fennel seeds crushed
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 2/3 cup half-and-half
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 pound rigatoni
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1 cup Parmesan cheese divided

Instructions
 

  • In a large Dutch oven, heat olive oil on medium heat.
  • Add the fennel bulb and onion and sauté for 7-10 minutes. Stir occasionally or at least once a minute.
  • Add in the sausage and cook until well-browned or for nearly another 10 minutes at medium-high heat.
  • Mix in the garlic, crushed fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper. Cook for 1 minute.
  • Pour in the heavy cream, half-and-half, and tomato paste. Combine ingredients.
  • Bring contents to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
  • Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and cook rigatoni according to the directions on the package. Drain pasta and add it to the sauce, stirring to coat all of the rigatoni.
  • Cook on low for 5 minutes to allow the pasta to absorb the sauce.
  • Remove from heat and stir in the parsley and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese. Serve pasta and top with remaining Parmesan cheese.
  • Enjoy!