Monday, March 05, 2007

Fettuccini with Creamy Tomato Italian Sausage Sauce Recipe

Filed under Main Course, Pasta, Pork, Quick

fettuccini-creamy-tom-saus.jpg

All I had to do was read the ingredient list of this recipe and my father was half-way out the door to the store to buy the fettuccini. Normally either one of "a pound of Italian sausage" or "a cup of whipping cream" is enough to pique his interest. Both together and the recipe takes on its own gravitational force. "Make me... make me.."

Even better than trying out a great new (to us) recipe is having a delightful guest with whom to share it. Fellow food blogger Chip Brantley of CookThink happened to be driving through Sacramento tonight and popped by for dinner. I can happily report that this recipe goes quite well with 2 bottles of full-bodied red wine, 4 hungry people, and stimulating (to us) conversation about growing stone fruit.

2 Tbsp olive oil
3 shallots, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1/2 pound spicy or hot Italian sausage, casings removed
1 cup whipping cream
2 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes in juice
1 Tbsp dried sage
3/4 pound fettuccine

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic and sauté until beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add sausages and sauté until no longer pink, breaking up the sausages a bit, about 5 minutes. Add cream; simmer 5 minutes. Add tomatoes with juices. Add sage. Simmer until sauce thickens, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

2 Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.

3 Return pasta to same pot; add sauce. Toss over medium heat until sauce coats pasta, adding reserved cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls if mixture is dry. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to bowl; sprinkle with cheese and serve.

Serves 6.

Adapted from a recipe in Bon Appetit magazine (December 2000).

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

European stocks fall to lowest in almost 4 weeks

LONDON: European stocks tumbled to their lowest in almost four weeks on Tuesday, dragged lower by heavyweight miners after the main Chinese index took a beating and by banking shares.

Among major movers, Standard Chartered sank following its results, while EADS gained after its board agreed on a restructuring plan for its Airbus unit.

"We're seeing a little bit of correction, a little bit of profit taking, but it's nothing serious. You've seen some excellent results in the last few days," said Thomas Muehlberger, fund manager at Bayern Invest in Munich.

"A lot of people are concerned about the situation in China. The feeling is we'll have very high volatility in that market."

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of leading European shares fell as much as 1.5 percent to 1,529.74 points, its lowest level since Feb. 1.

The move followed a lower Wall Street session as crude oil hovered above $61 a barrel as tensions continued over Iran's nuclear ambitions. The stand-off weighed on investor risk aversion, helping send the yen sharply higher against the dollar and euro.

In China, the Shanghai Composite fell nearly 9 percent, its biggest drop in a decade, as profit-taking by local funds snowballed ahead of a parliamentary session next week.

Across Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 slipped 0.9 percent, while Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 both fell 1 percent.

MINERS TUMBLE

Mining stocks pulled the European market lower, with BHP Billiton down 3.5 percent and Rio Tinto down 3.4 percent, spooked by worries over Chinese growth and higher South African taxes.

In the banking sector, Barclays fell 2.8 percent while Deutsche Bank slid 1.5 percent. Standard Chartered fell 3.3 percent after its earnings broadly matched analysts' forecasts.

EADS proved a rare bright spot, adding 1.1 percent after its board approved a shake-up for Airbus which is expected to include job cuts and factory sales as it tries to stay competitive with its archrival Boeing.

Among other companies reporting earnings, Spain's Repsol fell 1.6 percent after its adjusted net profit dropped, while Air Liquide slid 1.8 percent despite posting a higher-than-expected result.

Britain's GKN jumped 10 percent to its highest level since May 2002 after the engineer posted annual results at the top end of forecasts and said the outlook for major markets was positive.

"GKN's resilient 2006 augurs well for the future," UBS said in a broker note, adding the results suggest the company's restructuring is delivering ahead of plan.

Today in Business

Wal-Mart buys 35% of China retail chain

Chinese stocks drop sharply

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REUTERS

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