Orecchiette Pasta with Sausage and Zucchini

We found ourselves in a situation where we were out of almost anything it would take to make an acceptable meal, and finally went to the store earlier last week. We've been pretty busy this week (John's birthday!) so haven't had a ton of time or motivation to blog. But don't worry, we're still here. 

In San Francisco, John worked at Scala's Bistro, a restaurant in the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in Union Square (If Tara is reading this she remembers the free dinners we used to get. The girlfriend of a chef doesn't get to actually hang out with her significant other, instead she gets appeased with free food. I guess the mentality is that chewing prevents one from bitching?)

Anyway, one of the best dishes at Scala's is the orecchiette pasta (pasta from my family's region of Italy, which means "little ears" in Italian - love or leave that visual when you actually eat this dish.) Here's a loose interpretation of it:

Red pepper (1/2)

Zucchini (1/2)

Balsamic vinegar (3 tbsp)

Olive Oil (2 tbsp)

Garlic (2 clove)

Spicy italian sausage (4)

White wine (enough to deglaze pan)

Chicken Stock 1 cup

Spicy red pepper flakes (pinch)

Butter (2 tbsp)

Flat-leaf parsley (1/4 cup diced)

Parmegiano Reggiano (grated)

Orecchiette (dry, 1 lb.)

Sauce: Dice the red pepper and zucchini and toss them in a pan with the balsamic vinegar until they're almost fully cooked. Then add the garlic, olive oil, and sausage (removed from casing and broken up into small pieces) and cook until the sausage is done. Add enough white wine to deglaze the pan (just to get the crispy bits off the bottom of the pan). Then add chicken stock and a sprinkling of red pepper flakes and allow it to simmer down a bit. Once it's cooked down, add a few tablespoons of butter to make the sauce nice and creamy. Stir in the parsley (always add fresh herbs at the end!) Toss in the pasta and finish with some Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Pasta: Also, you should have been boiling the pasta while this was going on... Man, I bet you're kicking yourself now!