Pasta Shells with Tomato Cream Sauce recipe

Stressing over date night menu? Let me help you. Here's a recipe idea, and you can even serve the wine you cooked with. Italian dinner always seems so romantic to me. By the way, I know I always write "freshly grated" for cheeses, but the fact is that I chop the cheese to smaller pieces then I use a food processor to make them ground cheese. It's faster that way and also better for measuring.

Printable Recipe

Pasta Shells with Tomato Cream Sauce

For the Pasta
ingredients:
• ½ lb pasta shells
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• water

instructions:
1)  Bring a pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add salt and pasta, give it a stir. Cook to al dente according to package directions. Drain pasta.

For the Tomato Cream Sauce
ingredients:
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• ½ to ¾ lb ground hot Italian sausage
• half of an onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• ¼ tsp crushed red pepper
• ½ cup red wine
• 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup heavy cream
• ½ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, freshly grated + more for serving
• 2 tbsp Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped + more for garnish

instructions:
1)  Melt butter in a pan over medium-low heat. Add onions and ground sausage, breaking the sausage apart. Cook until sausage is no longer pink, about 5-7 minutes.
2)  Add tomato paste, crushed red pepper, and garlic. Cook for 1 minute.
3)  Pour in red wine and let bubble up for 1 minute.
4)  Add tomatoes, basil, salt, and ground black pepper. Cook for 1 minute.
5)  Stir in heavy cream and cook for 2 minutes.
6)  Add pasta, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and parsley. Toss to coat and cook for 1 minute, then off the heat.
7)  Garnish with parsley leaves and Parmigiano-Reggiano.