Rigatoni Woodsman-style

Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• salt
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced (about 1 1/4 c.)
• 1/2 lb sweet italian sausage, preferably without fennel seeds
• 1 lb assorted mushroom, sliced thin (about 5 cups)
• 1 cup diced tomato (fresh or canned drained)
• 1 cup fresh peas or 1 cup frozen peas, defrosted and drained
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock or 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock or 1 1/2 cups pasta cooking water
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup fresh ricotta cheese (or packaged whole-milk ricotta cheese)
• 1 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, plus more

Recipe

• 1 bring 6 quarts salted water to a boil in an 8-quart pot over high heat.
• 2 heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat; toss in the onion; cook/stirring, until wilted, about 4 minutes.
• 3 crumble the sausage into the skillet and stir, breaking up the sausage into small pieces as you do, until the sausage is lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
• 4 stir about half the mushrooms into the sausage mixture; add the remaining mushrooms as those in the pan wilt, making room for more.
• 5 cook, stirring occasionally, until all the mushrooms are lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
• 6 if the mushrooms give off liquid, allow time for the juices to boil off before the mushrooms start to brown.
• 7 pour the tomatoes into the skillet, stir in the peas, and bring to a boil.
• 8 decrease heat so the sauce is at a lively simmer; season lightly with salt and pepper, and cook a minute or two.
• 9 stir in the stock and bring to a boil; cook until the sauce is lightly reduced and is perking like a little volcano, about 5 minutes.
• 10 pour in the cream and bring to a boil; spoon the ricotta into the sauce and stir gently to mix.
• 11 if the skillet is large enough to hold the sauce and the pasta, fish the pasta out of the boiling water with a large wire skimmer and drop it directly into the sauce in the skillet.
• 12 if not, drain the pasta, return it to the pot, and pour in the sauce.
• 13 bring the sauce and pasta to a boil, stirring gently to coat the pasta with the sauce.
• 14 remove from the heat and stir in 1 cup of grated cheese.
• 15 check the seasonings, adding salt and pepper if needed.
• 16 spoon the rigatoni into warm bowls and serve immediately, passing additional cheese separately if you like.