Salsiccia & Leek Pasta

So we bought this truffle burrata and it was so delicious, I just kept wanting to make recipes with it!

My brother is a chef and has worked in some of the top restaurants in Toronto, so naturally I called him and asked him to recommend some flavours to pair with the truffle burrata! He has a very good sense of flavour and he always makes delicious food!

He recommended I make a pasta with sausage and escarole.... I had never heard of escarole and could not find it in the grocery store here, so I just used leek instead. Turns out escarole is like endive, which I almost bought but went for the leek instead.

Through his recommendation I also learned that salsiccia is just the fancy term for sausage that has been taken out of the casing and fried to perfection.

Although this recipe has many part, it was easy enough to make. I was also told it was one of the best things I had ever made, so I will definitely be asking my brother for some tips next time too!

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 3 Italian pork sausages (taken out of the casing)
• 1/2 leek
• 1 shallot 
• a handful of cherry tomatoes 
• a splash of wine 
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 1/2 tsp fennel 
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes
• 1-2 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
• pasta 
• 1 ball of burrata

Instructions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C (375 °F)  and roast the tomatoes for approximately 10 minutes.
2. Heat up olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and in the meantime, boil water for pasta.
3. Take the Italian sausage out of its casing and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
4. Once the sausage has started browning, add the shallot and leek. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and fennel
5. Cook together for a few minutes and deglaze with a splash of wine.
6. Add in the can of crushed tomatoes and let simmer on low heat. 
7. Once the pasta has boiled, save 1/4 cup of pasta water and allow it to cool down. The colder the better. 
8. Take the pasta sauce off the heat and add in butter, mix to melt into the sauce.
9. Pour the cold pasta water and mix the finely grated parmesan cheese into the sauce. The cold pasta water will stop the cheese from melting.
10.  Put a generous portion of sauce onto your pasta and top it off with tomatoes, chopped burrata, a drizzle of olive oil and crushed pepper.
11. Eat and enjoy!