Tagliatelle with Smashed Peas, Sausage, and Ricotta Cheese

To be honest, I'm not a big fan of peas. However, I came across this recipe the other day, and I thought it would be a good dish to my boyfriend Chris, who actually likes a vegetable! Chris, my picky eater boyfriend is so picky that it literally will sometimes drive me insane. Theres a lot that I can't cook with because of the fact that he can't stand some of the things I cook with. And me being me, I use a lot of different spices and love to add a lot of vegetables to my food; Which he hates.

For example, I can't cook with onions. He will ultimately taste it right away if I cook with it. It's ridiculous! I can't cook with carrots or garlic and nor can I cook with broccoli, spinach or green beans. Most of them being vegetables and also being stuff I love to cook with, which, makes it hard for me to cook something for him that he'll actually enjoy and like.

The recipe sounded pretty easy and something that he'd actually eat since there were peas in it. I didn't really instead to really eat it because I'm not to big of a fan for peas, but I decided to at least try it. And to my surprise, I now have a new liking for peas. I think I came to dislike peas from my mother whom would always buy the canned peas with all the juice, which I loathed! The dish was actually kind of light, not to heavy, and really satisfing. Best part, there was garlic in this dish and Chris didn't even notice! Hehe.

Recipe

1 pd. tagliatelle pasta
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pd. hot italian sausage, casings removed
1 pd. frozen peas, thawed
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
1 bunch of basil leaves, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
1 tsp. salt


1. Bring a large pot to a boil on medium-high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite. Drain and reserve one cup of the pasta cooking water. Set aside.

2. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and garlic over medium-high heat and add the sausage. Use a wooden spoon the break up the sausage into bite size pieces. When sausage starts to brown, after about 5 minutes, set aside.

3. Add the peas to the pan and using the back of the wooden spoon, smash the peas. Turn off the heat. Add the ricotta cheese along with the cooked pasta and toss to coat, adding the reserved cooking water in 1/4 cup additions, if needed, to moisten the pasta.

4. Return sausage to the pan. Add the basil, pecorino romano cheese, and salt. Toss gently to coat and serve immediately.