Friday food!

It occurs to me that we eat kind of fancy for some workaholic young broke people. I'm a half decent cook; I can make just about anything from scratch, and I'm pretty good at improvising recipes. I also have an affinity for buying food at Trader Joe's, and they enable me by being the closest and cheapest grocery store in my area. Most of this stuff I got at TJ's or Sprouts.

So tonight I made this mushroom and sausage orecchiette, based on those damn Carrabba's commercials on TV lately. I'm a sucker for anything mushroom and/or pasta, but I really hate overcooked chain restaurant pasta. I prefer to make it myself or go to a local greasy spoon Italian restaurant.

So fast and so delicious!

Mushroom and Sausage Orecchiette

2/3 lb hot Italian sausage
2 tbsp. olive oil
½ a package of crimini mushrooms, chopped
½ a sweet onion, chopped
½ a green bell pepper, chopped
2 c. beef stock (Better Than Bouillion)
2 heaping tsp. flour
1 tsp. garlic powder
Dash basil and pepper
½ cup heavy cream

1 lb. cooked orecchiette pasta
Parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in wok on high (it needs to be a large pan), add chopped mushrooms when hot. Cook for about 4-5 minutes, until just starting to get golden brown around edges. Push up on to side of wok; add onions and peppers and caramelize. Push onions and peppers aside, add sausage and brown and crumble. Add 2 tsp. flour, garlic powder, and basil and pepper to oil/drippings mixture in pan and stir until golden brown. Add 2 c. beef stock and stir well, drop heat to a simmer. Stir in heavy cream when thick and let simmer for a few minutes more, or until sauce regains thickness. Toss with pasta, top with Parmesan cheese. Serves about a billion people, or two hungry metalheads with leftovers.