Quick Dinner

     I didn't feel much like cooking last night but I wanted to make something nice.  Tam took a bad spill on the sidewalk the day before yesterday and comfort food was in order.

     Started with a pound of sweet Italian sausage, a 17.6-ounce jar of fancy pasta sauce, toasted fregula pasta, a large box of golden oyster mushrooms and a few Greek olives similar to Castelvetranos.  Plus an egg (or more, if you like 'em) and an 8-ounce can of plain tomato sauce.

     The most recent addition to my cooking supplies was a glass-lidded deep-walled 12" "everyday" skillet with PFOA-free non-stick, replacing both a shallow frying pan and a large non-stick saucepan with a clear lid.  It is great for this kind of thing.

     I browned and drained the sausage (with some extra "Italian" seasoning on it as it cooked)  and cleaned and added the mushrooms.  Once they were underway, I added the sauce, took a look at it and added an 8-ounce can of plain tomato sauce (and a little more seasoning).

     Meanwhile, I had a little over a half-cup of fregula in a 2-cup glass measure, with water over it to bring the combined level up to a little over a cup.  I salted it and was zapping it in the microwave 30 seconds or a minute at a time as I was cooking, letting it rest in between.  The water level declines and the pasta swells as it cooks, and while it needs to come to a boil, watch carefully on the one-minute runs -- it'll foam up and boil over.  This is just pre-cooking; the pasta will finish in the sauce.  (You can cook it directly in the sauce but it takes a bit longer.)

     With the sauce, meat and mushrooms stirred up, I let it simmer uncovered while I sliced four of the big, green olives and added them.  The pasta followed.  Reserve any excess pasta water and use it if the sauce seems too thick.  "Thickness" is subjective, but it's hard to go very far wrong.

     The sauce was bubbling, so I pushed a little hollow into it, broke the egg into that, and stirred the yolk with a toothpick -- I prefer 'em broken and solid.  YMMV, so adjust to taste.  I sprinkled some parsley over it all, put the lid on, reduced the heat and let it simmer for fifteen minutes, checking every five.

     It turned out pretty good, just what I was after!