Italian Sausage and Fontina Biscuit Sandwiches

I'm feeling rather uninspired today, on this, my Friday morning "off" from my regular life. I've been feeling a bit like I lost myself in the bleary-eyed, sleep-deprived season of birthing and raising my 3 children and my husband and I are on a quest to get me back to thriving. One thing we've identified as essential is that I get some time to myself. Like totally alone. Nobody asking nothing of me. So that's what Friday mornings usually have in store for me lately. Frankly, it's weird. After having little voices and limbs demanding something of me every millisecond of every day for 6 straight years, the silence feels unnatural.

Maybe that's because it isn't exactly silent in here. Before you get some crazy idea in your head that I'm in a spa somewhere, feet up, typing while having my back massaged, let me assure you - it's not quite that glamorous. Actually, I'm sitting in a grocery store coffee shop on a busy highway while I wait for my luxury vehicle (ahem, minivan) to get itself a shiny new set of wheels. Also, did I mention there is a lady in here on her cell phone with not just a singular file folder but her entire filing system which she is pushing around in a giant shopping cart? She's anxiously shrieking into her phone about some real estate something or other that went haywire, all the while multitasking and yelling random things across the entire coffee shop to the other couple in her party. She keeps saying stuff like "I can't hear anything in here" and let me say aloud what the rest of us patrons are all thinking: "NEITHER CAN WE, LADY!!" Yikes. It makes me hope Graham and I never made a scene quite this big win our home purchase nearly went down the tubes.

Anyway, I feel like I'm in a bit of a cooking funk lately. It's probably mostly because my priorities right now are fast and easy and the recipes I gravitate toward don't usually fall into either of those categories. It's my spiritual gift - making uncomplicated things excruciatingly complicated. I was lamenting to my husband the other night "I need to start cooking something good again" to which he is supposed to respond "Oh honey, everything you cook is good!" Well, he didn't say that. Which is so totally crazy. Because, who in their right mind doesn't like eating wet, slippery pesto made out of shards of zucchini instead of basil? Umm. Everyone in our entire family, I guess. (That was a first for my pasta-loving crew!) Instead, he just kept quietly eating whatever slop I'd placed in front of him, one forkful after the other.

But school has started for two of my kids which means I have recently stumbled upon this thing called margins in my life. And they have magical powers like making me feel rested, less stressed, and more excited about cooking. More excited about most things, actually. Now that I'm no longer in survival mode 100% of the time, I think (hope!) I'm coming out of this cooking funk as I'm pretty sure a couple of the items I prepared this week were tasty. (Ask my family - they are my true jury). Unfortunately I didn't photograph them which is why I'm here posting a recipe I haven't made for like a year. Because it's been about that long since the cooking was exciting over here. But I promise this one is good. Like really good.

Although the title technically refers to it as a "sandwich," you're definitely going to want a fork and knife to eat it as it isn't the kind you can safely pick up. Unless you prefer all the fillings crumbled in your crotch. For some reason, this recipe always sounds good to me on Sunday nights. My husband grew up eating Sunday night scone dinners and this tradition has carried over on occasion into our married life (though not often enough if you ask me!) Sometimes I like this more hearty alternative because it provides protein and even a smidge of veggies along with the yummy scone-like biscuit, leaving me satisfied all around. I typically use jarred roasted peppers to make this a quicker Sunday night option. If you're hoping for seconds, definitely make a double batch of the biscuit portion. There always seems to be plenty of filling but never enough biscuit for the carb lovers over here.

Hopefully some more recent recipe success stories will be headed your way soon, but in the mean time, make these and pardon me as I work on amping up my cooking game.

Italian Sausage and Fontina Biscuit Sandwiches
(adapted slightly from Food and Wine Magazine)

For the filling:
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 pound hot Italian sausages, pricked with a fork
1 roasted red bell pepper, cut into 1/2-inch dice
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and minced
6 scallions, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/3 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup shredded Fontina cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the biscuits:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cold buttermilk
1 tablespoon heavy cream or milk
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the sausages, cover and cook over moderate heat until nicely browned and cooked through, about 10 minutes total. Drain the sausages and cut into 1/2-inch chunks.

Transfer the sausage to a microwave-safe bowl. Add the roasted red pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, scallions, olives, Parmesan and 1/4 cup of the Fontina to the sausage and season with salt and pepper. Mix well.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Lightly butter a baking sheet. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, blend in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gently stir in the buttermilk until almost incorporated. Using your hands, gently mix the dough until blended.

On a lightly floured work surface, form the dough into a square. Roll or pat the square into a 1/2-inch-thick rectangle. Cut the rectangle in half and cut each half in half again to make 4 biscuits; transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Brush the tops with the cream and sprinkle with the Parmesan.
Bake the biscuits in the upper third of the oven for 10 minutes. Increase the oven temperature to 400° and bake for about 10 minutes longer, until the biscuits are pale golden and just cooked through. Let cool slightly.

Rewarm the sausage filling in the microwave. Split the warm biscuits and fill with the remaining 1/2 cup of Fontina and the sausage filling. Close the sandwiches and serve.

Serves 4

Spicy Sausage, Cheese and Fresh Basil Lasagna

Want to know the best way to NOT start a food blog? Probably to finally take the plunge and start said food blog and then rarely post on it. In case anyone is wondering, we've been on a wild ride over here at our house! You can read more about it on my personal blog here but essentially we bought a place built in the 90s, we disklike the 90s....you can imagine where this is going. Before we knew what we were doing (seriously!) we found ourselves in the middle of a major remodel that involved altering every single room in our house. That was winter. Then came spring and my focus shifted to exciting this like my new yard and starting a garden. Spring also included a much-needed week away with just my hubby to BREATHE after taking on something as major as buying a home and gutting a good chunk of it with three kids 5 and under.

And so there you have it. I apologize for my absence and I hope to be more present here. I've been wanting to tell you all about this lasagna for a while now. It's one of my favorites! I don't know about you but I often find hosts apologize and say things like "we're just having lasagna" when they have us over to dinner. But I LOVE LASAGNA and I'm like putty in your hands when I'm served it alongside garlic bread and a good salad. Maybe part of the reason I love it when YOU serve it to ME is because I didn't have to make it. My only hang up with lasagna is the process of getting from not having lasagna to having lasagna. It can be quite tedious but like most delicious Italian dishes, they are a labor of love.

I probably only make it myself once or twice a year. And every time I do, I find myself thinking Why didn't I just make two so I could put one in the freezer for later and only do this process once a year? So, address that little issue by doubling up and making two. I'm a genius, I know. Buuuuuuut, even though it's a process, it's so rewarding when you take that first bite. I love this recipe because it includes a good kick from the Spicy Italian Sausage. And the fresh basil thrown in with the ricotta gives it almost a pesto-like flavor so you get the best of both worlds: a marriage between red and white sauces. The sauce here is homemade but I've "cheated" at times and just purchased store bought pasta sauce to save time. I give you permission to do the same as you see fit. Dig in and enjoy and expect this one to become a regular part of your repertoire.

Spicy Sausage, Cheese and Fresh Basil Lasagna
(adapted slightly from Bon Appetit Magazine)

Sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil

3/4 pound spicy Italian sausages, casings removed (I use Isernio's)

1 cup chopped onion

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes with added puree

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with green pepper and onion (do not drain)

Filling:

1 1/2 cups (packed) fresh basil leaves

1 (15 oz) container plus 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

1 1/2 cups (packed) grated mozzarella cheese (about 6 ounces)

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)

1 large egg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Assembly:

12 no-boil lasagna noodles from one 8-ounce package

3 cups (packed) grated mozzarella cheese (about 12 ounces)

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)

Sauce:

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add sausages, onion, garlic, oregano and crushed red pepper and sauté until sausage is cooked through, mashing sausage into small pieces with back of fork, about 10 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes with juices. Bring sauce to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 minutes to blend flavors. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Chill until cold, then cover and keep chilled.) If you are using a pre-made sauce, simply brown sausage (casings removed) in a non stick skillet over medium high heat, breaking up meat using the back of a fork as above for about 10 minutes. Then add 1 jar of pre-made red pasta sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 5 minutes.

Filling:

Using on/off turns, chop fresh basil leaves finely in processor. Add ricotta, mozzarella, Parmesan, egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Using on/off turns, process filling until just blended and texture is still chunky.

Assembly:

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spread 1 1/4 cups sauce in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Arrange 3 noodles on sauce. Drop 1 1/2 cups filling over noodles, then spread evenly to cover. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layering of sauce, noodles, filling and cheeses 2 more times. Top with remaining 3 noodles. Spoon remaining sauce atop noodles. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Spray large piece of foil with nonstick olive oil spray. Cover lasagna with foil, sprayed side down.

Bake lasagna 40 minutes. Carefully uncover. Increase oven temperature to 400°F. Bake until noodles are tender, sauce bubbles thickly and edges of lasagna are golden and puffed, about 20 minutes. Transfer to work surface; let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Serves 8

Spicy Italian Sausage Cassoulet

My husband has declared it sausage week over here. I don't quite know how it happened. Maybe it had something to do with my state of mind during that crazed grocery shopping trip last week. But somehow sausage has been the main course at our table for three nights and running. I must have had sausage on my mind as I went racing through that store. Let me assure you, no one is complaining. Us Croziers love sausage, especially of the spicy variety, swimming in garlicky beans and topped with crisp bread crumbs (read: cassoulet). Cassoulet is a French pheasant dish and we tried it for the first time in, believe it or not, France.

We were in this amazing medieval town called Carcassonne, fortified with a massive wall just like in fairytales. We had read that the region was known for it's cassoulet so we (I) felt obligated to give it a try. The restaurant we dined in felt just as massive as the city, with rustic wood slab tables, cold rock walls and giant beams overhead. It felt like the waitress should come sloshing over with a stein of foamy beer. And maybe she did, but we weren't big beer drinkers back them (I'm still not) so I can't really remember. Honestly, sausage with beans sounded far from exciting to me at the time but I'm a rule-follower and I do what the guidebook says. If cassoulet is what the area was famous for, cassoulet was what we would get. It's all a bit fuzzy now but I seem to remember the dish tasting like, well, sausage and beans, nothing extraordinary. But it was obviously good enough (or at least the memories of that trip were fond enough) to draw us to this recipe when it was published in Bon Appetit Magazine back in the winter of 2012.

 

It has been raining here in the Pacific Northwest and suddenly I've had a hankering for sausage (obviously!!!) and beans too and so this recipe came to mind. Nothing sounds more comforting than a comforting cassoulet, especially when it's as exciting and flavorful as this one. The original recipe called for gigante beans but I have no idea what those are so I have always substituted dried large lima beans. Did you even know those existed?! I always thought I HATED lima beans (and I certainly do hate those horrid little green ones found in bags of frozen mixed vegetables - ick!) but dried limas? They are large and white in color and yummy and readily available in the bean section of your local supermarket.

 

This recipe isn't a quick one but it's perfect for a blustery day when you're stuck at home with napping children and mountains of laundry. You throw together a few ingredients here, let it simmer, add a couple more ingredients, let it simmer and so on a so forth. You certainly aren't locked into the kitchen all day but it does take a total cook time of about 4 hours from start to finish so be sure to plan ahead. Care to join me and make sausage week a real thing?

Spicy Italian Sausage Cassoulet

(adapted from Bon Appetit Magazine)

 

1 (16 ounce) bag or 3 cups dried large lima beans

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for drizzling

8 hot Italian sausage links (About 2 pounds)

1 leek (white and pale-green parts only), cut into 1/4"-thick rounds

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

3 anchovy fillets packed in oil, drained, chopped (optional)

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 1/2 teaspoons smoked paprika

3 cups low-salt chicken broth

1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained, crushed with your hands

7 sprigs thyme

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs rosemary

Breadcrumb topping:

6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

2 cups fresh coarse breadcrumbs (from three 1/2"-thick slices white sandwich bread)

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

 

For beans and sausage:

 

Place beans in a large pot and cover with water by 3". Bring to a boil; boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 1 hour.

 

Drain beans. Add fresh water to cover by 3". Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium and simmer, uncovered, until beans are just tender but not mushy, 1 1/2-2 hours (time will vary depending on size and age of beans). Drain, reserving 1 cup bean broth.

 

Preheat oven to 450°F. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. Add sauasage and cook, turning occasionally, until golden all over, 7-8 minutes. Transfer sausage to a plate and set aside.

 

Place 2 tablespoons oil, leek, and onion in same pot. Season with salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and light golden, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and anchovies; stir 1 minute to break down anchovies. Add tomato paste and paprika; stir constantly until paste is caramelized, about 2 minutes. Add reserved 1 cup bean broth, beans, chicken broth, and next 4 ingredients; bring to a boil.

 

Cover and bake until beans are very tender, about 30 minutes. Add sausage (and any accumulated juices) to pot, pressing to submerge. Bake until liquid is reduced and slightly thickened, 40-45 minutes longer.

 

For breadcrumb topping:

 

Meanwhile, heat 3 tablespoons oil in a large skillet. Add bread- crumbs and cook, stirring often, until golden and crisp, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

 

Sprinkle breadcrumbs over beans and drizzle with remaining 3 tablespoons oil. Bake cassoulet until breadcrumbs are browned and liquid is bubbling, about 15 minutes. Let sit for 15 minutes. Sprinkle parsley and lemon zest over just before serving.

 

 

Serves 8



Sautéed Sausage with Grapes and Broccoli Rabe

Thursday was a really big day for me. I stopped at the grocery store on my way home from work to "pick up a couple things" and managed to throw together a menu on the fly and buy food for the entire week. THE ENTIRE WEEK! I realize this accomplishment is leaving some of you unimpressed. But for this Type-A-Black-and-White-Rule-Following-Plan-Aheader, it was a miracle and it left me giddy for days.

To be clear, I had a strong motivator. It was a crazy week with my in-laws out of town and a jam-packed schedule for us and the munchkins. Then life froze and we all held our breath for 24 hours when we learned that my newborn nephew was being admitted to Children's Hospital. I wanted so desperately to drop everything and be there but I felt so helpless. My offer of "assistance" these days comes with three other smaller pairs of hands (and mouths!) that usually add more chaos and noise than calm. So I expressed my desire and willingness to do everything I could think of and then prayed and sat tight.

Praise God, my nephew was released home from the hospital the following day and there was much celebration as we all breathed a huge sigh of relief. This brings us to Thursday and my blog-worthy grocery shopping accomplishment. So, there might have been just a wee miscommunication between my brother-in-law and I when I got the call that they were being discharged. I think I was shrieking with excitement when I heard the news so it's understandable. He might have told me that they were coming to our place for dinner that night to kill time until my nephew's prescription was ready to be picked up back at Children's. What I heard? They were coming here straight from the hospital to live with us for 10 days until my in-laws returned. Same difference.

And so I grocery shopped. A little bit like a crazy person.  I'm laughing now because, though we would have been totally willing and thrilled to care for my dear brother-and-sister-in-law in this way, it would be so uncharacteristic of them (and most people, really...) to spontaneously decide to stay for a week and a half. But, the good news? We now have a full fridge and plenty of food for the spur-of-the-moment guest or two (or twelve!) who might pop in between now and Friday.

So how does this all relate to Sautéed Sausage with Grapes and Broccoli Rabe? Ah, yes, let me tell you. It's amazing, as one who is constantly trying new recipes, that when posed with the challenge of coming up with 7 meals on the fly, I can draw a complete blank. This is what happened when I pulled into the Fred Meyer parking lot on Thursday afternoon. I couldn't literally think of nothing to cook. After spending about 5 paralyzed minutes in the driver's seat, I decided aww, screw it and made a bee line for the door, hoping it would just come to me. People have always tried to tell me this but the planner in me claims it won't work and I've always resisted: sometimes individual ingredients really do inspire main dishes.

Case in point: broccoli rabe.

I've been making this dish for nearly 2 1/2 years now and would you believe that this is only the second time I've ever been able to find broccoli rabe? That would be why this recipe took center stage on my weekly menu when I saw this bunch of green stuff at my ghetto *cough* I mean local Fred Meyer of all places. I have searched far and wide for broccoli rabe after discovering it at a produce stand years back. Alas, it is truly hard to come by (at least where I live) and so I've settled upon broccolini (or baby broccoli which you can find at both Trader Joe's and Costco) as a solid substitute.

Now that I have you all scary that you won't even be able to find the ingredients needed for this recipe, do not fear! It truly is delicious with broccolini too. When substituting, use 2 bunches of broccolini and par boil them whole in a large pot of boiling water for 3-5 minutes instead of 1 1/2 minutes stated in the recipe. Drain and rinse with cold water and then coarsely chop. Also, though my picture (and the original recipe) would tell you otherwise, I recommend red grapes over green for their sweetness. Broccoli rabe has a slight bitterness to it that requires the sweetness of the grapes and the saltiness of the shaved parmesan to achieve a perfect balance. On that note, be sure to shave, not grate the parmesan cheese to get a good salty punch. Oh and if you're not a fan of bitter things, I'm willing to bet the sweeter broccolini will be right up your alley. 

Sautéed Sausage and Grapes with Broccoli Rabe

(adapted from Cooking Light Magazine)

1 pound broccoli rabe, trimmed and coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 (4-ounce) links spicy Italian pork sausage, casings removed
6 cups red grapes, sliced in half lengthwise
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
1 large red onion, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 cup white wine 
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
3 ounce Parmesan cheese, shaved (about 3/4 cup)

Cook broccoli rabe in boiling water 1 1/2 minutes; drain and rinse with cold water. Drain well. Place in a large bowl. Set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add sausage; cook for 6 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Add grapes, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; cook for 2 minutes or until grapes begin to soften. Add sausage mixture to broccoli rabe.

Return pan to medium-high heat. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; cook 2 minutes or until soft. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add wine; cook 2-4 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Add remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, sausage mixture, and vinegar. Toss to combine; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Sprinkle with cheese; serve immediately.

Serves 6

Pasta alla Norcina

Guys! So I totally made my own sausage! As in made my own sausage. I know, right? You're really super impressed. Either that or you have stopped reading entirely, declaring me out of touch. I promise it isn't as hard as it sounds. It's not the pipe-into-a-casing kind of sausage. It's the much more doable squash into a patty kind. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that, though this dish has made a bi-monthly appearance at our table for quite some time now, this was actually the first time I have ever prepared the recipe. My husband, my canned-soup-used-to-equal-dinner-in-his-mind husband, was the one to get us all addicted to this masterpiece. He was the one who found the recipe initially and then he's been the one to whip it up and serve it to guests on numerous occasions. Without fail, they look at me and swoon and applaud and I bask in it all until my conscience can no longer stand the unfair praise and then I blurt out "I can take no credit! Graham played chef tonight."

We love this recipe so much that I actually pulled out one of my kitchen boxes from our tower of belongings that are currently taking up residence in my in-law's garage. I needed to unearth my food processor. Needed to. So that I could prepare this recipe, of course. If you don't have a food processor, it is possible to still make this recipe, it just takes some fine chopping skills and I'm lazy and have three kids and don't really have a spare second I care to dedicate to mincing mushrooms and so I cheat. 

The recipe is a little more involved than simply boiling pasta water and heating sauce, but my mini sous chef and I still managed to put it all together in under an hour. This was another 9 AM make-ahead beauty that reheated nicely when the dinner hour finally rolled around. If you don't have orecchiette pasta (which I forgot to buy this time around), any small noodle with a nice curve to hold the meaty sauce will do. 

I wish this dish sported some amazing nutritional component but there really isn't much I can tote other than that it is 100% amazing and everyone is 100% happy when it's on the menu. I've often thought some sautéed kale would be a lovely addition but so far I haven't had the guts to mess with such a good thing. The dish is light and creamy and totally lovely paired with a glass of chilled white wine. It can be dressed up for company and it's also perfect for a casual weeknight dinner. Enjoy!
 

Pasta alla Norcina
(from Cooks Illustrated)
 

Kosher salt and pepper

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

8 ounces ground pork

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/4 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

8 ounces cremini mushrooms, trimmed

7 teaspoons vegetable oil

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 pound orecchiette

1/2 cup dry white wine

1 1/2 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese, grated (3/4 cup)

3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

1 tablespoon lemon juice

      Grease large dinner plate with vegetable oil spray. Dissolve 1⅛ teaspoons salt and baking soda 4 teaspoons water in medium bowl. Add pork and fold gently to combine; let stand for 10 minutes.

 

Add 1 teaspoon garlic, 3/4 teaspoon rosemary, nutmeg, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper to pork and smear with rubber spatula until well combined and tacky, 10 to 15 seconds. Transfer pork mixture to greased plate and form into rough 6-inch patty. Pulse mushrooms in food processor until finely chopped, 10 to 12 pulses.

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add patty and cook without moving it until bottom is browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip patty and continue to cook until second side is well browned, 2 to 3 minutes longer (very center of patty will be raw). Remove pan from heat, transfer sausage to cutting board, and chop into 1/8- to 1/4-inch pieces. Transfer sausage to bowl and add cream; set aside.

Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large Dutch oven. Add pasta and 2 tablespoons salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve 1 1/2 cups cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot.

While pasta cooks, return now-empty skillet to medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil, mushrooms, and ⅛ teaspoon salt; cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in remaining 2 teaspoons oil, remaining garlic, remaining 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, and ½ teaspoon pepper; cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in wine, scraping up any browned bits, and cook until completely evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in sausage-cream mixture and ¾ cup reserved cooking water and simmer until meat is no longer pink, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in Pecorino until smooth.

Add sauce, parsley, and lemon juice to pasta and toss well to coat. Before serving, adjust consistency with remaining reserved cooking water as needed and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 6