Kirstyn’s Tomato/Basil/Sriracha Sauce with Sausage & Angel Hair Pasta

This last week I had a deep yearning to cook something new but I didn’t really have any time of course. I also didn’t want to randomly think up something. I racked my brain for what I wanted for a week and when I found out I would have some time (last night) I still couldn’t decide. I then remembered that I know an AWESOME cook. So I asked her online ( her name is Kirstyn ) if she had a good pasta recipe. Kirstyn then laid out the plan for the following hot-cha-cha dynamite dish.

This recipe will make 1 to 2 servings.

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3 to 4 tbsp Grapeseed Oil

Sea salt

1 tbsp oregano

1tbsp thyme

5 fresh cut leaves of basil (for sauce)

10 fresh cut leaves of basil (for pasta)

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

Fresh ground pepper

1/8 cup grated carrot

1 large red tomato

1 or 2 off the vine yellow tomato / es (depending on how big they are)

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp sundried tomato purée

1 tbsp kale & basil purée

1/2 tsp puréed garlic

1 tbsp Sriracha sauce

Parmasean cheese

1 Fully cooked store bought Cajun smoked Andouille pork sausage

1 inch palm stack of angel hair pasta

1 blender

Large mixing bowl

Small bowl

Serving plate

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Let’s start off with the marinara sauce. On the low setting, heat up 2 tablespoons of grapseed oil, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt, and chopped onions in a sauce pot for about 8 to 10 minutes. The onions should be fairly soft when you next add the carrots. Continue to cook for about 4 to 5 minutes. Now put in the tomatoes, herbs, and sugar. When in the pot, mash the tomatoes with a wooden spoon or the base of a ladle. At this point you want to simmer everything uncovered for about 17 to 20 minutes. Keep an eye on it to make sure it does not burn. There isn’t that much liquid in there.

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Start boiling the water for the pasta.

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At this point you can either make the sundried tomato purée and basil & kale purée in a blender or you can buy them already premade at your grocer.

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When the time is up on the sauce pot (making sure the contents do not burn), turn off the heat, and pour it all in a blender. Put in the two purées and pulse blend it a few times to mix it up a little. Add two to three tablespoons of warm water to make the sauce more of a liquid consistency, only if it appears to be too thick, like a paste. Taste the sauce at this point to gauge how much Sriracha you will want to put in. Add the precious Sriracha sauce a little at a time between mixing and tasting. The tablespoon’s worth is recommended but not required if you really love the heat. Once added and you are happy with the heat, blend the mixture until it is smooth. (Note: Add more water in small amounts if it gets to much like a paste.)

From here you can either leave it in the blender covered, or transfer it back to the hot pot to keep it warm, covered of course.

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Take out your sauté pan and put 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan. Turn on the heat to get the pan and oil hot.

Now put the pasta in the boiling water. Store bought angel hair pasta takes about 4 minutes to cook.

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You can choose to start sautéing the sausage now or wait until you have finished cooking the pasta. When the sauté pan is hot, toss in the garlic and the sausage. Season it with a pinch of sea salt and pepper, to your liking, and cook it until it starts to caramelize around the edges.

(Fancy cook-like frying pan tosses are recommended to look cool, but not required if you aren’t comfortable with hot airborne food. Use a wooden spoon or tongs to stir and flip the sausage if you do not want hot oil everywhere.)

When done, remove the sausage from the saucepan into a small bowl.

Once the pasta is ready, strain it, and then pour it into an empty mixing bowl. (Note: pour in 1 to 2 tablespoons of the pasta water in the bowl as well to keep the pasta from drying out quickly and to help slick up the next step. Put in the rest of the fresh cut basil. Grab the bowl with both hands and toss the pasta in the bowl to mix in the fresh cut basil. Don’t use utensils on the angel hair pasta since it is sort of delicate.

After it is mixed fairly well, carefully grab one small handful of pasta and basil with your ‘CLEAN AND WASHED’ fingers and place it on your serving plate. (It shouldn’t be to hot to the touch. If it is, you can wait a little until it cools down more. Also, if you haven’t already, you can now cook your sausage)

From here, everything can now be put together. Pour the sauce over the top of the pasta using a large spoon. Add the parmasien cheese, place the sausage on top of that, a little more parmasien, and if your wack-a-doodle nuts, more Sriracha sauce. Weirdo.

Your done. Now take your time and enjoy. You don’t have to clean up all that mess you made just yet.