I love meatballs but I don’t always want to fuss too much when making them. One way around that is to buy a pack of fresh Italian sausages.
Why?
Well, the meat encased in those sausages has already been seasoned. And when you remove that meat from the sausage casings, break it into pieces, and roll those pieces up, you quickly create very tasty meatballs.
I did that for for today’s recipe and fried them in hot olive oil until they were richly browned and cooked through. The meatballs were then lifted out of the skillet and set on a plate. Sliced onions and peppers were then sautéed in the skillet, followed by some garlic and dried basil.
I then mixed in some diced, ripe, fresh tomatoes and stock and simmered everything for a while, creating a sauce for the meatballs, which they were mixed into it.
The next step required in preparing this skillet supper for two was to toss in some hot, cooked rigatoni. You could also use other types of pasta, such as rotini or penne.
You can serve this pasta-and-meatball supper right from the skillet, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and parsley, and a drizzle of olive oil. A flavourful combination of things you could serve with warm slices of foccacia bread and/or a side salad.
Skillet Italian Sausage Meatballs and Pasta
This skillet supper for two features Italian sausage meatballs fried in olive oil, added to a brothy/tomatoey sauce, and tossed with pasta.
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: about 30 minutes
Makes: two servings
3 (about 70 grams each) mild, medium or hot Italian sausages (see Note)
1 Tbsp olive oil, plus some for drizzling
200 to 225 grams dry rigatoni, rotini, penne or other bite-sized pasta
1/2 medium onion, sliced
1/2 medium green bell pepper, sliced
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp dried basil
1 large, ripe, red tomato, diced
2/3 cup chicken stock
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• freshly grated parmesan cheese, to taste
• chopped fresh parsley, to taste
Bring a large of pot of lightly salted water to a simmer over medium, medium-high heat. While water comes to temperature, remove the casings from the sausages and then pull the sausage meat into 14 to 16, 1-inch or so pieces. Roll each piece of sausage meat into a small meatball.
Place the 1 Tbsp olive oil in a 10-inch or similar-sized non-stick or cast iron skillet set over medium, medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add the sausage meatballs and cook and turn them until richly coloured and cooked through, about four to five minutes.
Remove skillet from the heat. Use tongs to lift the sausage meatballs out of the skillet and on to a plate. Drain all but about 1 Tbsp of the fat/oil left in the skillet. Set skillet back over medium, medium-high heat
When water is simmering, add the rigatoni (or other pasta) to the pot, return to a simmer and cook until just tender, about 10 to 12 minutes (check package for suggested cooking time).
While pasta cooks, place the onions and peppers in the skillet and cook and stir two to three minutes. Add the garlic and basil and cook 30 seconds more. Now add the tomatoes and stock to the skillet, bring to a simmer, and simmer until the tomatoes begin to soften and fall apart, about four to five minutes. Now add the sausage meatballs to the skillet, return to a simmer, and then turn the heat to medium-low.
When pasta is cooked, drain it well, reserving 1/3 cup of the cooking water. Add the pasta and 1/3 cup cooking water to the skillet, season with salt and pepper, and toss everything together to combine.
Serve this pasta and meatball supper right from the skillet, sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and parsley, and a drizzle of olive oil.
Note: I used Vancouver Island made Hertel’s brand Italian sausages in this recipe. They are sold at many grocery stores. Other brands of fresh Italian sausage will also work here.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
