Thursday, January 12, 2012

Product Review: Al Fresco Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage



My fridge often looks like a college student's or worse, with nothing other than Chinese takeout, a single beer, and half an onion. However, I try to keep a package of this chicken sausage at all times (I’ve seen it at several grocery stores including Shaw’s and Whole Foods). It’s one of the most versatile ingredients I’ve found, and I’ve used it in quite a few dishes (pasta, mac and cheese, omelets, etc.) Most recently I combined it with Trader Joe’s papardelle pasta and Alfredo sauce, and I think I found my new favorite variation.
I tried two different versions of a recipe two nights in a row using these three main ingredients. The first night, I mixed the alfredo with a few spoonfuls of pesto and tomato sauce, browned the sausage and some chopped pancetta in a skillet, then tossed it all with parpadelle pasta. It was good, but I would have preferred the sauce without the pesto.
                  The second night, I used a much simpler recipe: I tossed the alfredo, sausage, and parpadelle together with a little truffle salt and some shaved parmesan on top. It was delicious, cheap, and easy (except for the truffle salt, but a $30 container from William Sonoma has lasted about a year). The apple in the sausage added a hint of sweetness to the dish but wasn’t so strong that it overpowered the truffle. It was hard not eating the entire portion for dinner, but I did save half and it tasted great heated up for lunch the next day!

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