Freezer and Pantry Spring Cleaning Recipe: Rao's Sausage, Cabbage, Tomato Sauce for Pasta

Notes from a crazed stockpiler of food: You don't save money by stockpiling food on sale UNLESS and UNTIL you use it. That message is directed to me, by the way.

I've never quite succeeded in a total clean out, but once again I am embarking on the journey. I have a bunch of sausage that was $1/lb. I also found a sad looking cabbage in my fridge (but cabbage lasts pretty much forever). I typed the two keywords and perused the offerings. This is what I made. It is from the Rao's Cookbook. Needless to say, I used my own olive oil, pasta, and a big can of tomatoes.

1 lb. Rao’s Penne Pasta
1 jar of Rao’s Homemade Marinara Sauce
1/4 cup of Rao’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil
4 cloves garlic, peeled and mashed
1 pound Italian sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 pound savoy cabbage, cooked and chopped into bite-sized pieces
Salt and Pepper to taste
Freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese (optional)

Heat Rao’s Extra Virgin Olive Oil and garlic in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add sausage, and sauté until meat is cooked.

Add cabbage, salt and pepper to taste, and sauté for an additional 1-2 minutes. Stir in 3 cups of Rao’s Marinara Sauce, and cook for 3-5 minutes, until flavors have blended.

Meanwhile, cook Rao’s Penne pasta in a large pot of rapidly boiling salted water until al dente. Drain pasta and return to the pot with ½ cup of sauce. Stir for one minute over high heat. Place on a serving platter and pour remaining sauce on top. Sprinkle with Pecorino Romano cheese, if desired.

Rao's is a famous restaurant, frequented by celebrities and gangsters (according to lore). It is impossible to get a table. Not that I've tried.

Even though I discovered the recipe on-line, I have the cookbook. It is full of Italian-American home-style dishes. I grew up around a lot of people who ate this kind of food. I made the full amount, which supposedly serves 4 as a main dish. Mr. FS and I, big eaters, ate this twice and still have a ton left over.

I should have remembered: like Jewish cooking, Italian cooking is known for HUGE portions.