They were giving out free samples of this Emeril brand sausage (“with bacon, garlic, & red wine flavors”) at Sams Club. Riley liked it, and it’s always good to have more things to offer Mr. Finicky, so I bought some. The packaging had this recipe printed on the back, and I was intrigued enough to give it a try.

Ingredients:
4 links Emeril’s Chef’s Specialty Smoked Sausage
14oz fresh or dried pasta
2 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic
2 sweet potatoes, peeled, sliced lengthwise
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp rosemary
2 tsp shredded lemon rind
1 cup pitted kalamata halves
black pepper

Cook pasta al dente. While pasta is cooking, peel and slice* sweet potatoes. To roast, place potatoes on baking sheet. Combine sesame and vegetable oils and brush on potatoes. Sprinkle with sea salt. Bake at 400 degrees F until golden brown. Slice sausage into 1/2″ diagonal pieces. Place olive oil and garlic in sauté pan and cook about 1 minute until golden. Add sliced sausage, rosemary, lemon rind, olives, and pepper. Cook 3-4 minutes or until warmed through. To serve, combine sausage mixture with warm pasta and top with roasted sweet potatoes.

I made it once, and found it delightful. I made it again a few nights later, and mistakenly grabbed a tablespoon instead of a teaspoon when adding the sea salt. Just about ruined the whole thing. I don’t believe I’ll be making that mistake again. It’s a pretty rich recipe anyway, and not “comfort” enough to become a dietary staple, but I’ll make it every now and then to shake things up.
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*I basically julienned them, french-fry size, and that worked pretty well with the fettuccini noodles.

I made a batch of these last week that was my best yet. Then I realized I haven’t formalized the recipe yet, so here goes.

Click for the recipe.

Attention: The 2006 Hughes Beaulieu Picpoul de Pinet (AOC Coteaux du Languedoc) is now the official house white here in BryceLand. Crisp and zesty, and an excellent value. Do check it totally out if you can.

I made my “homemade” pizza tonight. Pillsbury roll-out crust, Ragu Homemade Style pizza sauce, mozzarella of course, with deli-thin pepperoni slices, red onion, kalamata olives, and roasted red peppers. It needs a signature name. It’s been giving me trouble in the rental house’s oven, which runs 25-50 degrees too hot. But tonight I got it perfect, I hope I can reproduce it now. The crust was crisp without being crunchy, not chewy at all, and although thin, it was sturdy enough to hold the toppings without drooping. The platonic ideal.

I think the higher you set the oven, the farther over the desired temperature it goes. I should test that theory with an actual thermometer.