Everyday Pasta

Description

For New York Times bestselling writer Giada De Laurentiis, pasta has at all times been probably the most great pleasures of the table: it’s healthy and delicious; it can be light and delicate or rich and hearty; it’s readily available and easy to prepare–everything you wish to have in a meal. And nothing satisfies a craving for Italian food quite adore it! In Everyday Pasta, Giada invites you to share her love of this versatile staple with more than a hundred brand-new recipes for pasta dishes, as well as for complementary sauces, salads, and sides tempting enough to bring the whole family to the dinner table.

Without forgetting about the classics we all love, Giada makes the most of the many varieties of pasta available to create recipes that combine familiar flavors in exciting new ways.

Although most of these dishes are all-in-one meals in themselves, Giada also supplies recipes for her favorite appetizers, side dishes, and salads to round them out.

Whether you’re on the lookout for a simple summer supper that makes the most of seasonal vegetables or seeking comfort in a pasta bowl on a cold winter’s night, Everyday Pasta offers just the thing.

• Tuna, Green Bean, and Orzo Salad
• Crab Salad Napoleans with Fresh Pasta
• Roman-Style Fettuccini with Chicken
• Baked Pastina Casserole
• Tagliatelle with Short Ribs Ragou
• Spaghetti with Eggplant, Butternut Squash, and Shrimp

Easy to prepare and perpetually versatile, pasta makes a wonderful quick supper when time is short but easily becomes an elegant meal when the occasion requires. In Everyday Pasta, Giada shows you how, with a few basic ingredients from the fridge and the pantry, you’re never more than minutes away from a delicious pasta dinner.
Food Network favorite Giada De Laurentiis returns with another beautiful cookbook, this time focused on pasta. In Everyday Pasta you can find more than a hundred new recipes for pasta dishes (as well as for sauces, salads, and sides) that are easy to prepare and delicious, whether you are on the lookout for something light and delicate, or rich and hearty. We’ve included a recipe for “Rigatoni with Sausage, Peppers, and Onions” below to tempt you. –Daphne Durham

Rigatoni with Sausage, Peppers, and Onions

4 to 6 servings
Stroll through any Italian American street fair and you can smell this classic combo. But At the same time as sausage and peppers are great in a sandwich, I think they’re even better tossed with rigatoni. Using turkey sausages instead of the more traditional pork also makes it a little lighter.

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 pound sweet Italian turkey sausages
2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and sliced
2 yellow onions, sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup Marsala wine
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, with juice
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 pound rigatoni pasta
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish

Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the sausages and cook until brown on all sides, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove the sausages from the pan.

Keeping the pan over medium heat, add the bell peppers, onions, salt, and pepper and cook until golden, 5 minutes. Add the garlic, oregano, and basil and cook for 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir until incorporated, then add the Marsala, tomatoes with their juice, and red pepper flakes, if using. Stir to combine, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to release all the brown bits. Bring to a simmer.

Cut the sausages into 4 to 6 pieces each. Return the sausages to the pan. Simmer uncovered until the sauce has thickened, about 20 minutes.

At the same time as the sauce simmers, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring infrequently, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta and add to the thickened sauce; toss to combine. Spoon into individual bowls and sprinkle each serving with Parmesan cheese.