Orecchiette With Fennel and Sausage

I am now staying at home because of COVID-19 and did not have mascarpone cheese and was certainly not going out just to get it. You can use cream cheese instead (didn't have that either) but sour cream, especially with a tablespoon of cream (I bet yogurt would do in a pinch) was what I used. This was extremely tasty and comforting!

I added a squeeze of lemon right at the end and it really brightened it up. I was skeptical that the fennel fronds were necessary but they were also a really nice addition.

Really, really good. Used more sausage and mascarpone and a fewer noodles. Delicious.

I followed the cooking notes (more mascarpone and pasta water, added red pepper flakes and white wine, finished with a spritz of lemon juice) and this turned out really good! My one addition not suggested by other notes was a handful of frozen baby peas. I used lots of the fresh parsley and fennel fronds, so I didn't even need to grated pecorino. Since I had difficulty finding orecchiette, I substituted a funky radiatori. Tasty, easy to prep, quick meal.

loved this. would recommend just adding a bit more mascarpone and a dusting of additional spices like crushed red pepper, oregano, etc.

Made this tonight, very tasty. Deglazed the pan with a little white wine before adding the sausage back in and added a squoze of lemon at the end to up the acid. Also put a shake of red pepper flakes in with the veggies because who doesn’t love a little extra kick!

Loved this dish! Such a pantry/fridge use up for me this week. I ended up taking the sausage out of the casing instead of chopping it up after cooking but it still ended up being great. The cheese was soooo needed and made a great sauce. My husband loved it!

I used tarragon instead of parsley and found it to be a very suitable substitute.

Used shells, red onion, and dried parsley b/c that is what I had. I did not have any pecorino and it did not matter. Really delicious and easy. This will be a repeat!

Pandemic note: Grocery store did not have funnel, so I used 2 leeks, some ground fennel seed in addition to the whole seed, less pasta and more mascarpone. Great!

Didn’t have mascarpone so used creme fraiche instead which worked well. Think I should have added a squeeze of lemon at the end, would have been a nice lift. Delicious but quite rich.

This recipe as written you is perfect. Huge hit here on a cold rainy night. AND dinner came in at around 10$ with leftovers. During this unemployed time, I'm a big fan.

I made this with Hot Italian Beyond Sausage (vegetable protein) and followed recommendations to increase the marscapone and add a squeeze of lemon. It was awesome comfort food on a cold, rainy day.

I cut the pasta down to 10oz for 4 people and that was enough. Also I tripled the mascarpone so it was richer/creamier.

Delicious! I used the full pound of orecchiette and doubled the mascarpone, used basil instead of parsley because it’s what I had, and substituted Beyond hot Italian “sausage”. Will definitely make this again, great recipe!