Pasta Campagnola

This recipe is probably close to being our favorite, partly because it's so good, and partly because it has a great story. Back in February of 2009, we went to this amazing little restaurant in the Tuscan countryside

Our bus driver had quite a bit of trouble finding the place and our bus even got stuck trying to get there. We had come from being in Rome where we were not super impressed with the food and were still looking for that to-die-for Italian meal.

Our group (we were chaperones for a highschool boy's basketball team) had the place to ourselves for lunch and they brought us out the most amazing meal.


After we were back in the States, my friend Donna, emailed the restaurant and asked if we could have the recipe. They sent back a list of ingredients (some in English, some in Italian). I found the email and here is what it said:

thank you for your compliments and sorry for my english......its called pasta campagnola and this are the ingredients

1.butter(burro)

2.meat sauce(pork)(salsiccia)

3.liquid milk(panna)

4.piper(pepe)

5.prezemolo(i dont know how do u call it)lol.

So, we had an idea of what to look for and Jon and I went on another internet quest to find something similar. The closest we came was one by Mario Batali, which we sort of combined with the info we had in the email. Every time we eat this, it takes us back to that amazing time and place.

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp. butter

1 onion, diced

1 lb. Italian sausage (special kind like parsley & parmesan)

1 c. white wine

1 c. heavy cream

1/2 c. chicken stock

1 Tbsp. tomato paste

salt & pepper

fresh grated Parmesan cheese

2 pkgs. frozen ricotta cavatelli

Heat olive oil and butter, saute onion, cook sausage (casings removed) slowly breaking apart and until it loses pink color. Add white wine, then cream, chicken stock, tomato paste and salt and pepper. Serve over cavatelli with fresh grated Parmesan cheese. Crusty bread and a glass of Italian wine are a must!