TAMPA, Fla. — It’s a chance to sink your teeth into al dente pasta as Casa Santo Stefano’s offers Sicilian recipes, all with Ybor City’s charm and a rooftop bar.
Executive Chef Nathan Serrano returns home to the Tampa Bay area after working for decades in San Francisco.
Serrano offered a recipe you can wrangle into in about 20 minutes.
Casarecce “Rinaldi” Ingredients:
- 2 ounces extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon garlic, sliced
- 6 ounces crumbled Italian sausage made from 8-ounce sausage link, preferably from The Boozy Pig in Tampa (see below)
- 3 ounces peas
- 4 ounces heavy cream
- 4 ounces chicken stock
- 1 ounce grated Romano cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper, blended
- 10 ounces caserecce pasta, cooked
- 1 tablespoon Romano cheese, grated
Directions:
- Heat oil in 10-inch saucepan.
- Add garlic and slightly brown.
- Add sausage meat and then peas.
- Sauté for 30 seconds.
- Add heavy cream and chicken stock, reduce until slightly thickened.
- Add grated cheese and salt and pepper, stir.
- Heat pasta in boiling pasta cooker for about 30 seconds or until al dente. Drain well. (Home chefs may also use dry pasta and cook per instructions.)
- Toss hot pasta with warmed sauce. Place pasta in bowl.
- Sprinkle grated cheese over pasta.
For the crumbled sausage:
- Chef uses sausage from the Boozy Pig in Tampa.
- Char-grill one 8-ounce sausage link until just cooked through. Immediately chill.
- Crumble sausage meat by hand into 1/4 to 1/2-inch pieces.
- Will result in 6 ounces of crumbled sausage.
- Refrigerate until use.