Creamy Sausage and Pinhão Pasta
A rich, creamy pasta with browned Italian sausage, pickled pinhão, Parmesan, and a small amount of blue cheese. Pinhão, the edible seed of the Brazilian araucaria tree, brings an earthy, starchy bite that pairs especially well with sausage and cream.
By Thiago Temple Published
Prep
15 min
Cook
25 min
Total
40 min
Serves
8
Level
Easy
My parents visit me from Brazil once a year, and they usually bring me a jar of pickled pinhão. This time, I wanted to try a different spin on using it, so I decided to make a pasta.
Pinhão is the edible seed of the Brazilian araucaria tree. Its earthy flavour and starchy bite fit well with browned Italian sausage and a creamy sauce. Parmesan and a small amount of blue cheese round out the sauce, while the pickled pinhão gives this pasta its own character.
Ingredients
Tap to check off as you go · 12 items
Amounts as written — this recipe serves 8.
Steps
- 1
Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until just shy of al dente, reserving at least 500 ml of the pasta cooking water before draining.
- 2
Meanwhile, heat a large skillet or sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add the Italian sausage and cook, breaking it into bite-sized pieces, until well browned and cooked through. Transfer the sausage to a plate, leaving the rendered fat in the pan.
- 3
Reduce the heat to medium. Add the finely diced onion and cook in the sausage fat until softened, about 3 to 5 minutes.
- 4
Add a splash of reserved pasta water and scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen the browned bits.
- 5
Add the drained, roughly chopped pinhão and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, just until warmed through.
- 6
Pour in the heavy cream and return the browned sausage to the pan. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
- 7
Add the drained pasta and toss thoroughly. Add reserved pasta water a little at a time as needed until the sauce coats the pasta smoothly.
- 8
Reduce the heat to low or remove the pan from the heat. Add the cold butter and Parmesan, tossing until melted and emulsified into the sauce.
- 9
Fold in the blue cheese and season with freshly ground black pepper. Taste before adding salt, as the sausage, cheeses, and pickled pinhão may already provide enough.
- 10
Finish with chopped parsley and additional Parmesan at the table.
Two things that matter
If you can't find pinhão, you can replace it with cooked, peeled chestnuts, roughly chopped.
