Creamy Sausage Orecchiette Recipe

This recipe was inspired by a coupon (not an unusual story for this household). I had a coupon for Barilla Collezione pasta, so I picked up a box of orecchiette. I thought about the flavors and textures that might complement the orecchiette (which is French for "small ear," so you can tell your kids you are eating ears for dinner - you're welcome). I picked up some ground sausage because I thought ground meat would sit nicely inside the shell-like shape of the pasta. I picked up mushrooms because I love their rustic woodsy flavor.

I didn't decide to add spinach, tomatoes, or soy sauce (yes, soy sauce) until I was in the midst of cooking. I'll admit that soy sauce sounds like a strange addition to pasta. I felt like I could be making a mistake when I added it to the pan of ground country sausage, but honestly I think it's what makes this dish. It adds a depth of umami flavor that stands up to the spices in the sausage and balances the butteriness of the pasta.

I have to give credit to Giada De Laurentiis for the idea to use a combination of cream cheese and mascarpone cheese to make a sauce. Years ago, she taught me this quick trick to a creamy sauce in an episode of Giada at Home where she was making pasta for her daughter's birthday party. I use it often. And now you can, too.

What You Will Need:

12 oz orecchiette pasta (I recommend Barilla Collezione orecchiette)
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
8 oz mini bella mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 pound mild country sausage (such as Jimmy Dean Premium Pork Country Mild Sausage)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 cups spinach, chopped
1 cup chopped tomatoes (about 4 or 5 Campari tomatoes)
salt and pepper
8 oz cream cheese
4 oz mascarpone cheese

What to Do:

First, cook the mushrooms (you will probably need to do this in two batches, depending on the size of your pan): Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat in a large saute pan. Add sliced mushrooms to the pan without crowding them. Cook for about 4 minutes (until the bottom is a nice golden brown), and then flip the mushrooms and cook on the other side for about another 4 minutes. Remove the mushrooms from the pan and set aside. Repeat with another tablespoon of oil and the rest of the mushrooms if necessary. Rinse and dry the pan before returning it to the heat.
Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in the saute pan. Add onions and cook until they are translucent (about 5-6 minutes). Add minced garlic and cook for about another minute. Add sausage and soy sauce and cook until the sausage is thoroughly brown, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks.
Cook pasta according to package directions (try to time it so that you add the pasta to the boiling water around the time you move on to step 4).
Add chopped spinach, tomatoes, salt, and pepper to the saute pan. Cook until the spinach is wilted and the tomatoes are soft, stirring occasionally. Add cooked mushrooms back to pan. Add cream cheese and mascarpone cheese and stir until melted and combined.
Drain cooked pasta and add to the sausage mixture. Mix well.
Accept the sort-of-compliment when your husband says it's "better than anything you'd get at, like, Olive Garden."