Fusilli Bolognese

For those of you that don’t like a story with the recipe, I apologize, but this one needs a little explaining. First off, it’s not fusilli, which is usually called rotini in the US. Neither is it in a bolognese sauce. And here’s why.

Some years ago, when we were members of a local country club, there was a dish on the menu called “Fusilli Bolognese”. It was one of our favorites. When that chef left, he took the recipe with him, and the dish disappeared from the menu. So I set about trying to recreate it on my own.

First the noodles. They were definitely gemelli, which look like this:

Gemelli

(and a quarter)

By the way, if you want to buy Meijer’s store brand gemelli, it isn’t currently gemelli. I mean, it has gemelli pictured on the box but there are casarecce noodles inside. If you can’t find gemelli, you can use casarecce. They are about the same size and hold the sauce just about right. Or you can use campanelle. Nevertheless…

And then there’s the sauce. After playing around with different things, it’s a pretty simple combination of Italian sausage, tomatoes, and a splash of milk or half and half. That’s it. And the whole dinner only takes about a half hour. No simmering your bolognese sauce for hours. That said, here goes nothing.

Ingredients

3 or 4 links Johnsonville Hot Italian Sausage

3 cups gemelli

1 can Red Gold Roasted Garlic and Onion Diced Tomatoes or whatever brand and flavor you like. This one just tastes right.

Half and Half

Shredded Parmesan Cheese

Process

Start a pan of boiling water.

Peel the sausages.  Brown in a skillet, breaking down into crumbles.

Add the can of tomatoes to the browned sausage, let cook down.  When I originally made the dish, I used to smash the dices while it was cooking. I find it’s a lot easier to just dump the tomatoes in a blender and puree them before adding to the sausage.

While the sausage/tomato mixture is reducing, cook gemelli according to package directions. The package will probably say 8 to 10 minutes. I have found that 9 minutes is basically the perfect texture. Drain the noodles.

After the sausage/tomato mixture has reduced, add a splash of half-and-half.  The resulting sauce will have a nice orange color.

Dump the cooked pasta in the sauce and toss to coat. Put the mixture into a large serving bowl.

Cover the pasta with a good layer of shredded Parmesan. Mix thoroughly.

Add another layer of Parmesan on top.

And you’re good to go!