Why kids love pasta, I have no idea. But they do. Place of bowl of pasta in front of them and most kids will react as though they’re being presented with a special treat. Even adults are not immune from the charms of a beguiling pasta dish. Perhaps, it’s the excitement of twirling the noodles around the fork. Perhaps, it’s the way the thick shimmery sauce coats each noodle strand — and then, in a somewhat mischievous manner, drips off a bit when each forkful of noodles is lifted. Perhaps, it’s the grated cheese on top. Or, perhaps, it is the association with parties, fun and games, and the warm memories that they evoke of sultry summer afternoons in the backyard.
I love pasta. Even as an adult. It is unpretentious and uncomplicated. Eating pasta does not require special cutlery nor any remarkable knife skills. Pasta and the more formal table etiquette don’t seem to go together. And yet, pasta is “adult” enough to be paired with a good bottle of wine.
Oh, I can go on and on and write a litany about the virtues of pasta and not run out of words. But if I did, we’ll never get to the recipe part. So, I’ll stop here. Let’s just sum up those virtues in one phrase — pasta is a feel-good dish. Like a grandmother’s soup. Or a cup of coffee or tea. It is comforting and reassuring.
So, let me now tell you about this pasta dish. Made with ordinary ingredients yet the result was anything but ordinary. Beef and spicy sausages, garden-fresh oregano stripped from their stalks, chopped tomatoes and cream, cheese…
The meaty part of this pasta dish consists of spicy sausage meat and ground beef. Sausages were slit, the casings were discarded and the sausage meat was crumbled.
The sausage meat and ground beef were browned, chopped onions were added everything was cooked together until the onion pieces were soft.
Next, the diced tomatoes are poured in. Fresh oregano is added.
The meat is braised in the sauce until reduced. Cream is added at the last stage.
The sauce was ladled on cooked pasta and the dish was garnished with cheese and parsley.
And that’s my mighty meaty pasta with tomato cream sauce!
Mighty meaty pasta with tomato cream sauce
Ingredients
- 225 grams pasta I suggest spaghetti, linguini or fettuccine, cooked al dente
For the sauce
To garnish
- grated cheese
- flat-leaf parsley or sweet basil chopped
Instructions
- Slit the skins of the sausages, peel off and discard. Pull the meat part into small pieces.
- Heat the olive oil. Add the beef and sausage meat. Cook until no longer pink.
- Add the chopped onion, stir and cook until the meat is lightly browned and the onion bits start to turn translucent.
- No garlic? Whether or not garlic should be added depends on the kind of sausage you’re using. If using a spicy and garlicky variety, adding more garlic might be overkill. So, I’ll leave the garlic part to you.
- Pour in the chopped tomatoes. Strip the oregano leaves off their stalks directly on top.
- Stir. Season with salt, pepper and a bit of sugar to balance the acidity of the tomatoes. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Pour in the cream.
- Stir and boil gently, uncovered to prevent curdling, for about a minute. Adjust the seasonings, if necessary.
- To serve, place some cooked pasta on a plate or shallow bowl. Ladle a generous amount of sauce and meat over the noodles. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Garnish with parsley or basil.
- Have a lovely meal.
Hi Ms. Connie!
Ano pong klase ng spicy sausage ang ginamit niyo and saan po mabibili? Thank you!
Spanish chorizo. Widely available in deli stores.
Hi con… thanks for the new and delicious pasta recipe again… it’s my husband’s birthday today so I have to cook it maybe this afternoon for the meryenda… thanks a lot Con.. ur really a great help… :)
Hi Ms. Connie, what brand of sausage did you use? Thanks!
Oh, my goodness, I don’t know. I just picked them off the supermarket shelves. Shopwise Libis.
hi ms. connie… this is really a wow! i was waiting the whole weekend for your post and there was none after the lechon kawali recipe. thought we’re in for a surprise. This one really looks perfect. i really wish i’ll learn the “presentation” thing, which I am really not good at. nevertheless, i’ll be trying this on my daughter’s 1st birthday on october 5. have a good day!
Busy weekend, sorry. U.P. Law reunion. :)
Advanced birthday greetings to your daughter. Hope she likes the pasta. :)
she does! think i’d like to have a dry run on weekend. with cream (for me and everyone else except…) and without cream because my husband loves anything pasta, less the cream… but he loves cream cheese spread! i really wonder…
Perhaps, it’s just a new combination for him. Resistance can be overcome hehehe
yes, i believe that as well. love your eggplant post, miss! i’ll revise my for-the-longest-time market list this week…
Hi Connie,
I’m new to your website – love it! I can’t wait to try out the recipes. I’ve been reading and reading. I just have a question, when you say “salt” in the ingredients, do you mean iodized salt or rock salt? Thanks in advance
Table salt. :)
Ms. Connie,
Pwede kaya longganisa instead of spicy sausage?
Longganisa is sausage. :) I recommend the Lucban or Vigan varieties.
Hi Ms. Connie! I would just like to share what my friend’s mom taught me. While regular cream is a good mix, try it with sour cream—really good too!
Yes! Tried that and it’s wonderful indeed. :)
this looks amazing! i am a sucker for anything with cream!
I have a daughter who loves the pasta only, without the sauce, her version of white spag. I guess.
Whenever I cook spag., I aim for this–more meat and tomatoes mixture, but I always end up with more sauce.Now with your recipe, I know it can end up differently-more to my liking. Thanks.
You know, you might want to introduce her to pasta and pesto. With lots of cheese. It might not sound kid-friendly but you’d be surprised at how many kids I know love the simplicity.
what other herbs would go well with this? im not a big fan of oregano , but i wanna wanna wanna try this because i like tomato with crean!
Nothing beats oregano when making tomato sauce but you can try sweet basil.
Connie, can I use Kraft cream cheese instead of cream?
It might be too thick. But there’s no harm in trying. Why don’t you and let us know how it turns out?
I know it’s like totally off your recipe, but it just gave me an idea real quick yesterday. All I had was corned beef, spag sauce, cream and cheez whiz and leftover vegetable pasta ribbons. My 2yo loved it!! I’ve never cooked pasta with cream before so I was hesitant if she’d like it.
Now I called up my meat shop to have ground meat and lucban longganiza delivered. I also bought fresh tomatoes! I guess you know what I’d be doing with those, but still with cheez whiz :D
hehehe I’ve done that in the past (see Oct 2003 entry). Corned beef does work with pasta.
My daughters love Cheez Whiz! A long time ago, we made a rice dish with corned beef and cheez whiz. Your daughter might like it too!
Yum! I eat pasta for practically every meal :) My favorite fall pasta dish, though, is this pumpkin and goat cheese lasagna! I made it once and I’ve been hooked ever since!
I made this earlier and it was delicious =)