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Meat. Beer. Rock n Roll. at Liar’s Club with the KISSFITS

[ May 18, 2012 3:00 am to May 19, 2012 3:00 am. ]

Manbque invites you to come take in a night of tasty meat, cold beer and loud rock n roll. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

$5 bucks gets you awesome, grilled food by the Manbque dudes and enough music to make your ears bleed. (in a good way, of course)

Great food, good music, somewhat ok [...]

Grilled Salad: Yes, it’s Possible

You, readers and patrons of ManBQue, have questions about grilling. And honestly, it’s one of our favorite things to do to answer them. Especially because they’re often along the lines of “Can you grill X?” At one of the last events, a newer attendee was marveling at the variety of food, legitimately believing that the [...]

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Greek Sausage and Blue Cheese Pasta

Posted on: October 14th, 2010   By: jbmays   No Comments Share   

This dish is a great example of why it’s impossible for me to get sick of pasta. Every time I’m convinced that I’ve had just about enough tomato, basil, and fennel, I find something seemingly out of left field that works in ways I’d never have predicted. I’d never have thought to pair the predictable hot Italian sausage with the strong, distinct taste of a good blue cheese. Wherever this came from (some sort of food blog or community recipe site, I imagine), I’m glad that it was there to surprise me.

The Setup

1 lb hot italian sausage, sliced thin
8 oz penne
1/2 c white wine
1/2 oz crumbled blue cheese
1/4 c heavy cream
1/4 c oregano leaves
1/4 c Parmesan
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper

On the sausage – there’s actually precedent to use smoked Greek sausage. But since that’s difficult to find outside of my Greekified neighborhood grocery, you can use Italian sausage in its place. Hell, Google Maps tells me that Athens and Rome are a mere 1,284 kilometers apart. But if you can get the real deal, go for it. Just use half the weight.

Fun fact – go with dried oregano. The spice is naturally dry enough that you don’t really lose any flavor by going with the stuff in the jar. But get a good chunk of nice blue cheese and crumble it yourself. Save the pre-crumbled dust for a salad.

Cooking

1. Cook the penne to al dente, slightly less cooked than you’re going to want the final product. Keep 1/2 c of the slated cooking water and drain the pasta. Let that sit while you prepare the sauce.

2. In a large (12″, at least) skillet, heat a thin coat of olive oil and add the sausage. Cook through.

3. Add the wine to the pan to deglaze while you scape up the fond from the bottom with a wooden spoon. Let the wine boil down for 2 minutes.

4. Knock the heat down to low and add the cream, oregano, and blue cheese.

5. Once the cheese is melted, add the pasta and toss. Thin the sauce out with some of the cooking water that you saved to get the sauce to a nice creamy consistency.

6. Turn off the heat, check the seasoning, and serve with Parmesan to taste.

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