All-time Favorite Pasta: Tomato-Kielbasa Linguine

In the past I have been accused of hyperbole, but you have to believe me when I say that this really, truly is my all-time favorite pasta dish to make. (Note that I said, to make. My all-time favorite pasta dish to eat is Gardener’s chicken spirelli with rosemary leek cream sauce…but I would never attempt it.)

I first had a variation of this pasta (without the sausage…of course I added the meat) at a dinner party a friend from high school hosted.  She’s an amazing cook, and a veritable Martha Stewart! I instantly recorded the recipe, so that I would have it for the future.  I have cooked this dish for boyfriends, friends, dinner parties, and family, all of whom have loved it beyond measure. (Well, except for a boyfriend I once had who hated tomatoes. Seriously? If you hate tomatoes, you’ve got bigger problems than whether or not you will enjoy this pasta sauce, in my humble opinion.)  In fact, I cooked this dish the first time my father and sister came to visit me in Pullman at my own apartment – like a grown-up!

The ingredients are: linguine, tomatoes, mushroom, red onion, butter, red Marsala cooking wine, dried (or fresh, if you have it) sweet basil, and Polish sausage. I use Polska Kielbasa from Hillshire Farms because it is my absolute favorite. None of that turkey kielbasa, vegan sausage crap – what is that stuff, anyway? All I know is, it’s in the same section and I once bought it by accident. It was not good.  Anyway, kielbasa is just sausage made in Poland with pork and a particular set of herbs. Don’t ask me what herbs; I’m too tired to look it up. Whatever it is, it’s good.

And no, the Torani syrups don’t go in the pasta. Silly gooses.

Slice and dice up some Roma tomatoes. The ones that hold their shape, remember? I think I used two. I like my tomatoes in big chunks, so I cut mine on the large side.  Set aside.

And a red onion. I used a half of a large onion, because I had one lying around.  I had used the other half making something else. (That’s why the edge of my onion is a little rubbery looking. Pretend you don’t see that.) I left mine in lovely half-moons, so that they would be beautiful strands of onion in the final dish.

Mushrooms complete the trifecta of veggies. To be quite honest, the reason I decided to make this dish was not a sudden hankering for it (although I had that, too) but because I already had all of the ingredients except for the kielbasa.  These mushrooms were on their last legs. I would not have eaten them raw. I will leave it at that.

But sautéed they were juuuust fine.

Start by putting the onion in a skillet with some butter. You could also use olive oil, but I was out. I know. How is that possible? Don’t worry, I bought more.  You can use more or less butter depending on how you like your onions. Some people like them almost crunchy with brown burnt spots. I like mine silky smooth, translucent. Cooked over low heat. Yum. (Then tossed in batter and deep-fried.) (Haha.) (Just kidding.)

This is the kielbasa. Also extremely good in scrambled eggs. Or raw, with baguette and, um, cheese. You can slice it into slices smaller than this, if you would like, or cut in half for smaller bites.

Once the onions have cooked down a bit, add the mushrooms.  The mushrooms release a lot of water, so be prepared.

Once the mushrooms and onions have cooked down – maybe 5 minutes? – you can add the sausage.  Personally, I do not like to actually cook the sausage or the tomates (because the sausage is already cooked, and the tomatoes will get all mushy) but rather, just heat them.

So when you feel like the sausage is heated about halfway through (just guesstimate), you can add the tomatoes!

Kind of stir it all together…

And then add the kicker. And I do mean, kicker, literally. I will never understand people who do not cook with alcohol. It gives such great flavors that you can’t get from anywhere else.  Red wine, white wine, sherry, rum, even beer in beer-battered, well, anything, really. It always adds flavor. I used red Marsala cooking wine for this. It gives it that heat, sort of. I can’t really explain it because I’m not a food chemist.

Pour some in there…I never measure. I just eyeball it. Sometimes that works out for me, and sometimes it doesn’t. I like to go with my gut while I’m cooking. Most of the time it turns out well – and when it doesn’t, I have learned a valuable culinary lesson! It’s a win-win situation.  In this case, it worked out fine. I think I used maybe a half of a cup. Possibly two thirds.

Ok, and see that scraggly red onion peel? I cannot tell you how much it is bugging me in this picture! I removed it from the pan, but not before I took the picture, I guess. Sigh.

I also added some basil. I love basil. This was before I potted my basil plant. So from now on I will have fresh basil leaves to put in my pasta! Yay!

Once it all starts coming together, it will look like this:

Yum. And, did I mention, your linguine should be boiling at this point. Pasta is tricky because you don’t want either the sauce or the noodles to be overcooked.  Soggy noodles are the worst. The absolute wuuuuhst, dah’ling. I think linguine is replacing capellini as my favorite type of pasta, too, by the way. I just can’t get enough of it lately! I like it with just the teensiest bit of a bite when you first take it out of the water – by the time you add the sauce, it is perfect!

Once you have drained the pasta, place it into a serving dish.  Then spoon the sauce over the top! This is one of the few dishes I don’t just toss it all together. Also, I had company. Also, I just think it looks pretty.

Doesn’t it? I wish you could smell it, because it smells uh-mazing. And it tastes even better.

Enjoy. :)