A couple of years ago I read an article in The New Yorker where a man was describing his father recreating a pasta dish at home, made famous by the iconic River Cafe of London. The River Cafe is a restaurant in the Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, London, specializing in Italian cuisine. It was opened in 1987 by chefs Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray, until Gray's death in 2010. Since then, Rogers has been the sole owner and operator of the restaurant.
As I was reading the New Yorker article, I was intrigued about the pasta that was beautifully described. Fragrant Italian sausage, tomatoes, herbs, cream. I tried to recreate it myself without a specific recipe, but just from the author's description. It turned out delicious, but I wanted to get my hands on the actual recipe so I searched for it and was able to find The River Cafe Cookbook, authored by Rogers and Gray, on Amazon.
Come to find out, there are two versions of this decadent pasta written about in the cookbook. The authors' friends from Tuscany, Cloe and Adam each provided their variation of the dish, Cloe's takes 20 minutes to prepare and Adam's about 90 minutes.
I tried Cloe's version last night and it was amazing. My slight modifications were that I substituted the red onions for yellow (personal preference) used a can of crushed tomatoes vs whole tomatoes, used mild Italian sausage and red pepper flakes vs dried chillies (what I had on hand)
The next time I visit my friend Julie in the UK, I will definitely want to visit the River Cafe. The rest of the cookbook looks amazing and I'm sure I'll be trying some other recipes.
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Penne con Sugo di Salsiccie alla Cloe served with crusty bread |
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| Two versions of Penne with Sausage Sauce from the River Cafe Cookbook |
Foodie Mama's River Cafe Penne with Sausage Sauce
Ingredients:
- 2T evoo
- 1 medium yellow onion, minced
- 5 Italian sausages, mild, met removed from skins and crumbled
- 1 1/2 t fresh rosemary
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes
- dash sea salt and black pepper
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 lb penne rigate
- 5 oz heavy whipping cream
- 6 oz grated Parmesan
Directions:
- In a large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat the oil over meduim heat and add the onion and cook until translucent and soft, about 7 minutes
- Add the crumbled sausage, rosemary, bay leaves, pepper flakes, salt and pepper and cook over med-high heat until sausage is well done, approx 20 minutes
- Add tomatoes, stir and bring to boil. Remove from heat and remove bay leaves.
- Cook the penne as per instructions and drain.
- Add the cream, the penne and 3 oz of the Parmesan to the sauce and stir gently to combine.
- Serve with the remaining Parmesan and crusty bread. (serves 6)