Pasta with Sausage and Slow-Roasted Tomato Pesto

I admit I’ve been remiss in not posting this recipe sooner. I meant to, really I did. I promised it to you back in August, when I published a post about Slow-Roasted Juliet Tomatoes, which are a bit of summer heavenliness. When September rushed by at breakneck speed, and I realized I had failed to post this, I planned to save it for next summer. But my friend Amanda, who has been waiting for this recipe, wasn’t about to let me get away with that. So here we are.

The truth is, you can make Slow-Roasted Tomatoes at any time of year as long as you can get some variety of Roma tomato in the market (make sure they’re tasty, not bland), and you can certainly make Slow-Roasted Tomato Pesto if you can find some fresh basil. Personally, I keep a potted basil plant growing on my countertop year round, so a handful of fresh basil leaves is never a problem.

Admittedly, I love those mid-summer farmers’ market visits when I can buy garden-grown, deep green basil in a massive bouquet. I come home and put it in a mason jar of water on the counter until I’m ready to use it, and it perfumes my kitchen nicely. My own housebound plant doesn’t bear leaves as large nor as green, but it serves me well in the fall and winter when “fresh” basil in the supermarket costs $4 a handful.

The pesto recipe is adapted, like the Slow-Roasted Tomatoes, from Molly Wizenberg’s A Homemade Life. I like a little more garlic in my pesto, so I kicked up the garlic a notch, and I added come freshly ground pepper. Molly recommends it as a spread for a sandwich, perfect with some goat cheese or fresh mozzarella, and she’s right. But I also love pasta with pesto, so it just seemed natural to toss it with a pile of whole wheat fettucine. I added the turkey Italian sausage because I wanted it to be a one-dish meal, and of course Eli doesn’t usually respond well to vegetarian cuisine. However, I think this would have been just as delicious without the sausage.

So. I know it’s October, and that garden tomatoes and basil are really a thing of the past (for the moment). Forgive me if you have no way to make this, and it makes you long for summer when we haven’t even gotten into winter yet. Just save it for next year.

Pasta with Sausage and Slow-Roasted Tomato Pesto
adapted from A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg

1 pound whole wheat fettucine
1 pound sweet turkey Italian sausage
1/2 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups fresh basil leaves, tightly packed
3 cups Slow-Roasted Tomatoes
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

To make the pesto, in a food processor, puree together the olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and garlic. When fully incorporated, add the basil, tomatoes, and 1/2 cup of the parmesan and puree until mixed well, pausing occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Set aside.

Set a large pot of water over high heat, covered, to boil. When the water has reached a full boil, add the fettucine and cook according to directions on the package. Drain.

Meanwhile, in a cast iron skillet or deep saucepan filled with about 1/2 inch of water, cook the turkey sausages until the water is gone and the sausages are lightly browned. Cool slightly and cut into slices.

Toss the pasta, sausage, pesto, and remaining 1/2 cup parmesan together in a large, shallow bowl. Serve with a crisp green salad, some artisan bread, and a bottle of good red wine.