This is my favorite dish from Palio, my favorite Italian restaurant in Ann Arbor. The name of the dish “strascicate” means “mixed up”, and its a hearty dish which evokes the countryside of the Lucca region of Tuscany. I’ve never seen it in a cookbook (although I saw at least one online), and its probably not a dish that you’ll see often on a typical restaurant menu. This is another reason why Ann Arbor is a fabulous place to live in the midwest — we have a lot of really good restaurants.

I’ve made a couple of adjustments from restaurant version (based on my guesses) to lighten it up and to use herbs that I have on hand.

Items
  • 1/2 lb sweet (not hot) fresh Italian sausage (about 3 links)
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 2 TB butter
  • 2 medium stalks (3″-4″) fresh rosemary
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 lb rigatoni pasta
  • 2 cups fresh or frozen sweet peas (not canned! yuck!)
  • 1 cup vegetable or chicken broth
  • 1 cup cream or half and half
  • 1/2 cup finely grated Romano or Parmaggiano-Reggiano cheese (both stand up well in this dish)
  • 2 roma tomatoes, chopped, or 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 cup scallions, chopped (optional)
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Method
  1. Remove sausage from casing and fry over medium-heat in a nonstick skillet until completely cooked at least 10 minutes. While the sausage is cooking add one of the stalks of rosemary, and using a spatula chop the sausage until it is in small pieces. Season with freshly-ground black pepper. Set aside covered with the rosemary still in the pan and keep warm.
  2. Remove the leaves from the remaining stalk of rosemary and chop very finely.
  3. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. When the butter has melted add the garlic and fry for a minute. Add the rosemary, and continue to cook another 4-5 minutes. Don’t let the garlic burn, and stir often.
  4. Add the broth and cream (or half and half) and the thyme sprigs and bring to a boil, stirring often. When it boils, turn the heat down to low and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally.
  5. Cook the pasta according to the packet directions, about 13 minutes.
  6. While the pasta is cooking, thaw/heat the peas in a small strainer in the pasta water. You don’t want to cook the peas, just warm them through.
  7. When the pasta is done, drain and put back in the pot.
  8. Remove the thyme sprig from the sauce and discard. Add the cheese to the sauce, stirring constantly. Check the salt of the sauce and adjust if needed.
  9. Add the sausage (discard the rosemary stalk) and tomatoes, to the sauce and turn the heat up to medium to heat through and soften the tomatoes slightly.
  10. Add sauce to pasta, stirring well to combine.
  11. Serve topped with additional cheese if desired, and a handful of scallions if you like them.

Serves 4 very well. It pairs well with a nice dry white wine. We had a good Aussie Chardonnay.