While we were in Italy we ate a lot of radicchio. Sometimes as just a salad, but most of the time it was incorporated into the meal somehow. One of my favorites is in pasta, the second favorite would be on pizza. Oh it is so good!

If you are not familiar with radicchio it is a a leaf chicory. It can be quite bitter in taste but it does mellow a bit when you cook it. When it is sauteed with onions and sausage the aromatic flavors are so robust.

What I decided to do with this pasta was give you a little step by step, just to see how it is done. What I love so much about pasta dishes is that from start to finish it can take 30 minutes or less. This is so great when you have 5 other people in the house who it seems all need to eat at the very same moment! What is even better about pasta sauces is that you can pretty much throw everything into a pan and let it do its magic all by itself. Little maintenance with a lot of flavor!

Look how few ingredients it takes to pull this meal together!

When you read in a recipe to get your onions translucent this is what they mean. It just takes a few minutes to get them looking this way.

Next you simply add your meat and let the onion and meat cook till the meat is just about done.

Then at this stage you add your vegetable or here I added the radicchio. This way it does not cook too long and get soggy or overcooked.

Then you will mix all together and you will have this very tasty pasta to eat!

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PENNE WITH SAUSAGE AND RADICCHIO

YIELDS: 6 servings

PREP TIME: 10

COOK TIME: 20 mintues

TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 sausage links

1 small onion, diced

1/2 head radicchio

1 pound penne

olive oil

1 teaspoon table salt

Sea salt

dried parsley

parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Heat pot full of water to cook the penne in. Salt the water with sea salt, when boils add penne. Cook for 12 minutes.

2. In the mean time saute onions in olive oil over medium heat until translucent.

3. Add sausage and brown.

4. Add radicchio and table salt. Cook radicchio down till it turns soft and dark purple color.

5. When pasta is done, drain and pour into bowl.

6. Add sauce and mix.

7. Sprinkle with parsley and cheese. ENJOY!

This pasta is a very quick and simple dish to put together, but it has great flavor.
I know when we think of pasta sauces, tuna does not come to our minds but it adds a new and unique twist to the dish. Tuna and onions complement each other well in this sauce.
To get the most out of this dish, using a tuna in extra virgin olive is worth the extra dollar spent then tuna under water.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb of rotini pasta
1 small can of tuna packed in extra virgin olive oil
4 Roma tomatoes diced
1/2 onion diced
Fresh Basil
Salt
Olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
Parmasean cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cook pasta according to directions on the package.
2. Reserve 1/3 cup of the pasta water.
3. In separate pan cook onions drizzled in olive oil till translucent.
4. Add basil and salt for taste.
5. Add tomatoes. Cook till tender.
6. Drain tuna.
7. When pasta is cooked and drained add to new bowl.
8. Add sauce, tuna, and butter.
9. If pasta is dry add some of the reserved water.
10. Sprinkle with cheese and Enjoy!