I was inspired to come up with this dish after watching Jamie Oliver cook Pasta Puttanesca on the Lifestyle Network during our Christmas vacation. I love Jamie! I love Lifestyle Network! I can watch it all day. Too bad we don't have it here in our apartment in Bangkok :( I asked our sales agent if we can add more channels to our cable, but she said we can't anymore.
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Anyway, I digress. So my first attempt was in my mom's kitchen. I used Hungarian sausage from Santi's and Hunt's canned tomatoes. This is the Bangkok edition. I wasn't able to find any Hungarian sausage and Hunt's canned tomatoes here. In fact, when I asked the lady at the TGM stall at Top's Supermarket if they had any Hungarian sausage, she gave me a funny look like I had grown a second nose or something. She said they only have German sausage. Eh kasi nga naman, TGM stands for Thai German Meat or something. Basta, Thai German sya. How silly of me!
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Let me share with you the recipe. This is not Jamie Oliver's, ok. He made Pasta Puttanesca; this is Grilled Sausage Pomodoro Pasta. I was able to pick up a few tips from his show and I just used them on this recipe.
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Here's how my workstation looks like. Two of my cooking essentials are: a glass of cold water because I drink a lot especially when I cook, and my clean-up bowl.
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For easy clean up of onion skin, garlic peel, vegetable peel, etc.
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First, you cook the pasta. You can use any kind. I only had linguine in my pantry that time.
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Most people back home put oil in the water for the pasta. I used to do that too! But then I learned that you don't really need to put oil because you will drain the water anyway, so you're draining the oil too. You just need water and salt. So how do you keep your pasta from sticking? According to Jamie, when you drain it, you leave a little water. That will prevent them from sticking. This works best if you have a pasta pot (the one with holes on the cover). If you don't have a pasta pot, you can perhaps drain the water (but not completely!) using a colander, transfer the pasta together with the remaining water in a bowl.
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You only add the pasta when the water comes to a rolling boil. This is not a rolling boil.
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This is a rolling boil.
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You just dump the pasta in, stir once in a while, and cook until al dente.
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Now, let's move on to the sauce. You will need: olive oil, minced garlic, chopped onion canned tomatoes, salt + pepper, sausage and basil.
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You need to grill the sausage first. I cut them into bite-size pieces for faster grilling.
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The sunog part of grilling gives the sausage added flavor. While you're grilling, you can work on the pomodoro sauce.
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Heat a good amount of olive oil in a pan, then add garlic. Be careful not to burn the garlic! Don't wait for it to turn golden brown, you just want it to "sweat" a little.
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Add the onions and cook until transparent.
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Add the canned tomatoes. The one that I got from the grocery is whole plum tomatoes so I had to mash them a little.
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Simmer for around five minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
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Add the sausage.
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Toss the pasta in the sauce.
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Here's another Jamie Oliver tip: you add the basil leaves last. The heat of the pasta and the sauce should be enough to cook it. In fact, if the basil is overcooked, it won't taste good.
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Grilled Sausage Pomodoro cooked with lots of love :)
