Recipes Orecchiette with Sausage and Cherry Tomatoes 5.0 (3,680) Add your rating & review Using sausage in place of ground meat is a good sauce shortcut, because it's already seasoned. For a salty, creamy finish, Marc Vetri stirs in shredded provolone cheese before serving. By Marc Vetri Marc Vetri Instagram A 1999 F&W Best New Chef, Marc Vetri founded the Vetri Family of Restaurants in Philadelphia. The 2005 James Beard Award winner for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic continues Vetri Cucina, Fiorella, and Fiore Rosso restaurants, and his cookbooks include Mastering Pasta and Mastering Pizza. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Updated on March 8, 2017 Print Rate It Share Share Tweet Pin Email Photo: © John Kernick Total Time: 30 mins Yield: 4 Ingredients 1 pound orecchiette 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 3/4 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper Salt 2 ounces aged provolone, shredded Directions In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta, reserving 3/4 cup of the cooking water. Meanwhile, in a large, deep skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil until shimmering. Add the sausage in 1-inch clumps and cook over moderately high heat, turning once, until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the sausage to a plate. Add 2 tablespoons of the olive oil to the skillet along with the tomatoes and crushed red pepper; cook over moderately high heat, pressing the tomatoes until slightly softened, about 4 minutes. Add the reserved pasta cooking water, season with salt and cook over moderate heat, scraping up any browned bits and crushing the tomatoes, until the liquid is reduced by half and the tomatoes are nearly broken down, about 5 minutes. Add the pasta to the skillet along with the sausage and the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and cook, stirring, until the pasta is evenly coated, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the provolone. Transfer to bowls and serve right away. Suggested Pairing Bold, cherry-dense Merlot from Napa Valley. Rate it Print