Large dish with green Basil Pesto Radiatore Pasta cooked with breakfast sausage.
The Best Pesto Pasta
If you’ve never had Pesto or you did and didn’t think you liked it, doesn’t mean you wouldn’t like it prepared differently. Pesto is an Italian sauce/paste that is 5 basic ingredients that can be improved or lessoned upon, depending on your desired tastes. Thos ingredients are Basil, Garlic, Pine or Almond nuts, Garlic, Olive oil, Parmesan cheese and a pinch of salt and pepper. Depending on how much you add of each can change the desired outcome of the pesto, completely. That’s why, today, I’m going to offer you 2 different recipes for this pasta.
1 lb of Cooked Jimmy Dean Sausage in a large pan on the stove.
Protein for your Pesto Pasta
Whether you realize this or not, most Italian sauce recipes require a specific pasta. Pesto, for example needs a pasta that has texture and grip. That’s why it’s good to use pastas like Penne, Fusilli, Cavatappi or Radiatore pasta, just like I use in this recipe. These noodles hold the sauce in there grooves and it’s just as important to choose which protein, best fits your dish.
In this recipe, I’ve chosen a simple breakfast sausage but Pesto is very versatile. You can use Veil, Lamb, Shrimp & Scallops or something simple, like chicken. Just be sure to cook the meat, all the way through before adding all of the other ingredients.
How to cook Basil Pesto Pasta with Sausage video tutorial by PoorMansGourmet.
Basil Pesto Pasta with Sausage Ingredients:
12 oz Pasta, Radiatore, Penne or Shells 1 lb Ground Breakfast Sausage, cooked 4 tbsp Butter 1/2 cup Whipping Cream 3/4 cup Pesto
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Basil Pesto Recipe
2 oz Basil, no stems 2 Garlic cloves, ground 1/4 cup whole Almonds, ground 1 cup Parmesan, grated 1 cup Olive Oil, extra virgin 1/2 tsp Pink Salt, Himalayan or Kosher
Here is the recipe for the alternate Pesto Sauce. Be sure to watch the short video tutorial and I’ll show you exactly how to make this Basil Pesto Pasta with Sausage.
Large red pot on the stove top, 3/4 full of homemade Bolognese Sauce.
The Best Bolognese Sauce
Bolognese is a sauce made by sautéing Sofrito, chopped onion, carrot and celery, which is then cooked with minced meat and slowly boiled with diced tomatoes, sauce, tomato paste and red wine. It’s cooked and stewed for several hours, on low heat, to allow the meat to soften and tenderize as the flavor concentrates through the power of reduction. The very best Bolognese Sauce will melt in your mouth with your favorite pasta and will comfort you like any stew or hot chili on a cold winter’s day.
Sofrito: Chopped Celery, Carrot and White Onion.3 lbs of minced meat; 1 lbs ground Beef, 1 lbs ground Lamb and 1 lbs of ground Italian Sausage.Cooked Sofrito and minced meat.Cooked Bolognese Sauce.
1 lbs bag of Pappardelle pasta nests and another 1 lbs bag of Tagliatelle pasta nests.
Bolognese Pasta
Most Americans know about spaghetti, a thin noodle with some type of Ragu or Marinara over the top, sometimes served with hamburger or Italian sausage and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. What many don’t know much about is other pasta’s and the do’s and don’ts with other sauce recipes.
Spaghetti, for example, is not suppose to be served with Bolognese Sauce. Though folks all over the world prepare it this way, there isn’t considered to be enough surface room to hold the sauce. Wider noodles, like Tagliatelle or Pappardelle are preferred. Shorter noodles like Rigatoni and Penne Regatta are also acceptable because they’re able to hold more sauce.
2 nests of Pasta: Pappardelle on the left and Tagliatelle on the right.Plate of Pappardelle pasta with Bollognese Sauce and fresh grated Parmesan cheese.
How to make Bolognese Sauce video tutorial by PoorMansGourmet.
Bolognese Sauce Ingredients:
1/4 cup Olive Oil 1 Onion, chopped 1 Large Carrot, diced 3 Celery Sticks, chopped 1 lbs Ground Beef 1 lbs Italian Sausage 1 lbs Ground Lamb 1 Cup Red Wine (half Vegie cook other half meat cook) 29 oz Can Tomato Sauce 5 oz Tomato Paste 14.5 oz Can Diced Tomato 1 cup milk, add last
Salt and Pepper to taste
Chopped Onion, Carrot and Celery should be approximately the same amounts. Cook for 3 to 4 hours and add 1cup of water every hour or so and let it reduce to soften and thicken the minced meat.
Preferred pasta: Tagliatelle Pasta, Pappardelle Noodles(really wide), Penne, Rigatoni pasta. NEVER use Spaghetti and top off each serving with fresh grated Parmesan.
Here’s a two for one recipe. Actually, it’s a 3 in 1 recipe, technically but who’s counting. You’re getting an amazing Meatball recipe, a fantastic Garlic and Greens Butter Spread recipe and a sub recipe that is out of this world delicious. I’m even going to plug my Spaghetti Sauce and Pizza Sauce recipes as a Marinara option, as well.
1.5 lbs of raw hamburger and 5 regular Bratwurst sausage’s (1 lbs).
Beef and Pork
The most important ingredients for a great meatball starts with the meat and, in my opinion, beef just isn’t enough. To really trick up the flavor you’ve got to add pork or pork sausage. In this case, I’m adding regular Bratwurst Sausage’s. Another good combination is the addition of veal. Ground beef, pork and veal make great meatballs, if you don’t want to use sausage. For this recipe, however, I like the Brat’s because of the additional ingredients put in that make the flavor of the sausage so unique in flavor, especially when it’s mixed in with beef to make meatballs.
2 dozen 1 1/2 inch raw meatballs in 2 cupcake tins, ready for the oven.
Baked or Pan Fried
Meatballs can be cooked several different ways. The easiest, in my opinion, is baking them. I love a good pan fried meatball, don’t get me wrong, but when you’re preparing several other foods or filming at the same time, it’s a lot easier to just throw them in the oven and let them do their thing. I like to use these mini cup cake tins because the catch the grease and they fit a 1 1/2″ inch meatball, perfectly. I bake for 15-20 minutes at 400° F.
Garlic and Green’s Butter Spread for the sub rolls.
Grilled Bread for the Sub Rolls
You have to grill the bread when you’re making a Meatball Sub. You just have to. If you don’t, the sauce will take over the bread and turn it into a sloppy mess. Maybe that’s your thing, though. Just maybe, that’s the way you like it and you can just skip grilling altogether. Either way, I wouldn’t advise that you go with out this lovely Garlic and Green’s butter spread. It is divine and, because I do prefer my buns grilled, I spread this butter over both sides of the inside of fresh sub roll and lay it down flat on a hot skillet for a few minutes or until it fully toasts the spread. Then I fill it up with goods, minus the sauce (don’t add the sauce until the end).
2 dozen cooked Meatballs, still in their cupcake tins, after baking.Almost 2 dozen meatballs mixed in a pot of Spaghetti Sauce.
Marinara, Spaghetti or Pizza Sauce
Of course, it’s entirely up to you which sauce you use and how much effort you want to put into making a Meatball Sub. Maybe it’s just me but I think the flavor of the sauce get’s bolder in the title order; Marinara, Spaghetti Sauce then Pizza Sauce. I have 2 Spaghetti Sauce recipes and a good Pizza Sauce recipe, if you you’re interested in making it from scratch. Personally, and for the sake of ease, I prefer just going with a jar of Prego and if you’ve got a problem with that then choose something else. All I recommend, if you choose a store bought sauce, is that you stay away from Ragu, yuck!
Meatball Sub Sandwich video tutorial by PoorMansGourmet.
Meatballs Ingredients: Makes 30 1 1/2″ Meatballs
1 1/2 lbs Hamburger 1 lbs Original Bratwurst, 5 sausages 13 Ritz Crackers 1 tbsp Italian Seasoning 1 tbsp Mexican Oregano 1 tsp Goya Adobo all purpose seasoning 2 eggs
1 Pinch of Kosher Salt and Pepper, optional
Oven 400° Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 minutes.
Meatball Sub Ingredients:
6 to 8 Sub Rolls 24 oz Spaghetti Sauce 6 to 8 slices Provolone or Mozzarella Cheese 1/2 cup Parmesan, grated
Garlic and Green’s Spread 2 to 4 Green Onion 6 Basil Leaves Hand full Fresh Spinach Leaves 2 Garlic Cloves 2 tbsp Olive oil 1 cube Butter, 1/2 cup 1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar 1 tsp Parmesan, fresh grated 1 pinch Kosher Salt and Pepper
Be sure to watch the video tutorial and I’ll show you how to make these incredible Meatballs and these Meatball Sub Sandwich’s.
