Sausage and Caramelized Apple Pasta

Caramelized Apple, Sausage, and Fennel Pasta

I wish I could say where I got the idea for this dish, but, honestly, I have no idea.

We were driving home and the Mrs. needed the night off from cooking and turned the reins over to me. I wanted to come up with something new, yet simple because I didn’t want to have a lot of cleanup.

A couple weekends ago, on Splendid Table, a caller was asking about how they could use apples in a savory manner, namely with game. Lynn talked about taking some apples, stuffing a quail with equal parts garlic and apple, and also suggests a side dish of half inch thick apple rings, brushed with oil and chili pepper, seared in a pan like grilled onions.

Well, sure that sounds good, but, I didn’t want to go that route. Either that or I just didn’t remember the episode well enough.

Regardless, I knew I wanted to toss some caramelized apples in with pasta. I don’t know why I knew that, but I did.

And, me being the diabetic, I knew we could use some sausage in the dish for protein.

I don’t know why this recipe works, I just know it does.

It didn’t turn out as simple, or as mess free, as I wanted, but I have trouble calling it difficult.

And I can hear some of you now. ‘Fennel seed? I hate *licorice* flavor!’

First, roasting the fennel seeds mellows their flavor nicely.

Second, they counteract the sweetness of the apple perfectly.

Caramelized Apples and Sausage over Pasta

Adapted from my own fevered imagination, serves 2

Sausage, caramelized apples, and collard greens

• Zane and Zack’s Habanero Infused Sugar (see note)
• Fennel seeds, 2 tablespoons
• Apples, 2 (see note)
• Smoked sausage, 2, cut into discs and then quartered (see note)
• Pasta, for 2
• Chard/Kale/Collard Greens/other leafy green, half a bunch
• Garlic, 3 cloves, diced
• Parmesan cheese, grated, optional

1. In a dry frying pan, roast the fennel seeds at a medium temperature for approximately 3-5 minutes. They should mellow into a smoky, nutty licorice scent.
2. Slice the apples horizontally (or, more geekily, at a 90 degree angle to the apple core) in slices about half an inch thick, give or take. Carve out the core, but try to maintain a ring.
3. Heat up a frying pan medium high and throw in a good splash of oil.
4. Grab two plates, in one make a pool of oil, in the other, spread some of the sugar out. Oil up each side of the apple and then dip in the sugar to coat each side.
5. Put the apple slices in the pan and sprinkle each slice with some fennel seeds.
6. Cook about 5-10 minutes per side. They should get a nice brown char if you’re lucky.
7. Put the apple slices aside to cool and drop the diced garlic into the pan.
8. Cook for 3-4 minutes, and then add the sausage to the pan.
9. Cook until the sausage is heated through and shows some crispness on one (or more) side(s).
10. While the sausage is cooking, cut the apple slices into quarters or eights, depending upon the size of the apple. You want apple pieces that will be noticeable in the dish, but not that you’d choke on.
11. Once the sausage is crisped, add the apples back into the pan and turn down the heat and cover to maintain warmth.
12. Start some salted water boiling, with a splash of olive oil in it, and start your pasta cooking once the water has reached boil.
13. While the pasta is cooking, remove the ribs from the leafy greens and tear the leafs into shreds.
14. Once the pasta is just becoming al dente, usually about 8-9 minutes for dry pasta, and if you know how to make your own pasta, I’m not about to tell you how to cook it, add the torn greens into the water.
15. Once the pasta has finished cooking, roughly 1-2 minutes longer, drain the pasta/greens mixture and return to the bowl. Pour the sausage, garlic, and apple mixture into the pasta, including any oil left in the pan. Toss, adding more olive oil if needed.
16. Serve with grated or shaved Parmesan cheese atop.

An apple a day...

Note: For your apple selection, avoid the red/golden delicious apples, that most vapid apple of the apple kingdom. Look for something more tasty. I prefer the Tsugaru apples from Anderson Acres, but, really, just walk around the market and try the varietals. There are plenty of samples, and plenty of types to try. Don’t be pigeon-holed into the same old apples you’ve always had.

You might think it odd we recommend smoked sausages, and there’s a good reason for that. They will hold together while you cut them up and crisp up well in the pan. Now, you could make up some non-smoked sausage, cook that first, and rather than having chunks of sausage, crumble it up and throw the crumbles in the pan instead of the non-existent cut up bits of smoked sausage. Or you could always do both. No holds barred on this recipe. We used a beef sausage in our case, but I think a pork sausage would work just as well, if not better.

Ok, and lets say that you’re not one of our locals, and you can’t get the sugar, or you don’t have the sugar, or some other reason you can’t get the Zane and Zack’s, you could use plain sugar, or you could could mix sugar and some chili powder, or mix some sugar and crushed red pepper in a food processor.

We’ve had this recipe twice so far, a little different each time. It gets easier each time we make it. And, like a few other dishes in our arsenal, this is likely one we’ll go back to again and again. The ability to throw in a mix of ingredients, making it just a little different every time, makes this a shining dish.