By Mackenzie Childs

Before returning home for breaks, I mentally compile a list of restaurants I want to visit. Highlights of this list include Antico Pizza, where I celebrated my 18th birthday; Taqueria del Sol, specifically for a fried chicken taco; and Novo Cucina, my family’s favorite restaurant in Atlanta. These are places full of memories where my family and I celebrated birthdays, holidays, and academic successes. To me, these restaurants serve comfort food--food with a nostalgic or sentimental value that, when tasted, bring back a flood of memories.

This summer, however, home wasn’t the same.

When I returned to Atlanta in March, it dawned on me that not only would I be unable to visit these places to be reminded of old memories, but we also could not return to make new memories. A few weeks prior to Mother’s Day, my mom approached me and requested that I replicate her favorite meal--rigatoni with sausage and pink sauce Novo Cucina.

And so I headed into the kitchen, apron on and wooden spoon in hand, to test and trial this recipe. In the process, I built upon existing memories and sentimentality to create a new comfort food. I have made this dish for Mother’s Day, my mom’s birthday, and for my grandparents and the memories of those occasions have helped to further cement Rigatoni alla Salsiccia as a comfort food.

Rigatoni alla Salsiccia

Serves: 4 | Total time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 tsp crushed red pepper

3/4 cup half-and-half

1/4 cup white wine

1 tbsp tomato paste

16 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 tbsp flour

1/4 cup shredded Parmiganio-Reggiano cheese

8 oz Rigatoni pasta

1/2 cup pasta water

1 lb bulk Italian sausage

1 medium onion, diced

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried parsley

Equipment

Large skillet

Medium saucepan

Strainer

Chef’s knife

Cutting board

Assorted measuring cups

Instructions

Cook pasta one minute less than al dente, according to package directions. Before draining, reserve 1/2 cup pasta water.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage and cook through. Remove sausage from the pan, drain, and set aside.
In the same pan, sauté onion until it is translucent.
Then, add the tomato paste, dried spices, half-and-half, wine, tomato sauce, and flour. Stir until combined and bring to a simmer to thicken.
Once small bubbles appear, add the sausage and stir until the sausage is broken up and evenly distributed through the sauce.
Then, add the cooked pasta along. Add pasta water, a little at a time, until the sauce clings to the pasta.
Finally, add the cheese and mix until melted and well combined.
Serve topped with more cheese, if desired.