Homemade Pasta with Pesto, Sausage and Ricotta

Pesto pasta is made creamier and heartier with the addition of Italian sausage and ricotta cheese. The homemade pasta is completely optional but it’s a nice touch.

It had been three (long) years since I’d last made fresh pasta. When we bought our little mountain home in Idaho a few years ago I moved some of my older appliances there, the perfect opportunity to upgrade an item or two here in the Bay Area. Well, three years later, after deliberating on several other options, I finally replaced my stand mixer and pasta roller…with the very same models I had before. Don’t tell my husband but I see his point now about me being indecisive.

The long-awaited pasta-making session took place last week. It was so nice to finally get my hands in some dough and play with a new (to me) pasta shape. I made garganelli pasta for the first time with the intention to use them in this dish but inexperience working with a tube pasta had me turning to Plan B as my little ridged garganelli collapsed overnight (something about rolling my pasta too thin). They were edible but didn’t make the cut for pictures. Thankfully, I had also made fettuccine ribbons with the leftover pasta dough and my husband and our friend who kept us company the next day were none the wiser that their lunch required a last-minute substitution.

The heart of the dish was unchanged, though. I wanted pesto sauce to be the base for this pasta and since it’s winter it needed more substance. I took inspiration from a dish at a neighborhood restaurant and added meat to the mix but instead of pork, I used my favorite Italian chicken sausage from Trader Joe’s. It’s mildly sweet and light but with enough flavor and fat to provide the heartiness I was after. To finish, I used a good amount of pasta water and a dollop or two of ricotta cheese for some creaminess. A little squeeze of fresh lemon juice brought all the flavors together.

This dish is flavorful and satisfying without being too rich. That has always been my husband’s critique of the restaurant’s version so this seemed to suit him more. It’s more restrained, absent of excess oil and cream, compared to my default order down the road. The fresh pasta is nice here but it’s not necessary. I would enjoy this just as much with dried pasta (use your favorite shape) so there’s no reason not to enjoy this dish if you don’t have a pasta machine or, if you’re like me, haven’t been able to decide which one to buy.