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If you haven’t been following me on Twitter lately, you might not have picked up on the fact that as of late, I’ve been a single woman.

Don’t worry, B didn’t leave me for Elizabeth Hurley, his current “get out of jail free” card. And I didn’t leave Brad for Ian Somerhalder, or Gerard Butler, or Caleb Followill, or Ed Westwick, or Taylor Kitsch, or any of the other men for which I have an “acute fondness.”

Unfortunately, B has just been out of town like CRAZY lately. I’m bored out of my MIND without someone to constantly nag talk to all the time. I’ve practically started talking to my TV, honestly. So after like, the third straight week of him being out of town, and him having to eat horrid restaurant food every night, he came home for the weekend. Last Monday, Brad made a special request for his grand Friday night return meal. B hardly ever makes straight-up requests for a certain dish… so when he asks for something in particular, I try to accommodate. Well, out of all things…

He requested pasta.

And mustard.

Together. (Just in case you missed that part.)

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I know… it’s weird. I mean, we eat a LOT of mustard in our house (we have – let me count – 5 different kinds in our fridge right now? Overkill, I’m sure) but uh, I’ve never made a mustard-based sauce for pasta.

Well, there’s a first time for everything… right? I mean, mustard and pasta are like, our two favorite foods. Surely I could find SOME WAY to meld them in an amicable way. Well, Google came to the rescue — as usual — by leading me to a Food & Wine recipe. Pork and mustard go well together, I know this already. So it seemed like a reasonable conclusion that pork + mustard + carbs = mouthgasms.

Not surprisingly so… this pasta is delicious. It’s full of mustard flavor, so if you’re not such a fan of mustard, then maybe think about scaling back on the mustard by a tablespoon or two. The thyme here isn’t overwhelming, like thyme can sometimes be. Instead it just melds with the crushed red pepper and the mustard and cream to make a delicious tasting and delicious smelling sauce. This is also the perfect quick dish – the second time I prepared it, the entire dish was done in the amount of time it took the water to boil and the pasta to cook, about 20 minutes. You could easily substitute dried thyme in this recipe, just halve the amount of dried thyme.

I’m just saying… I know it sounds weird, but it’s just the dish to ease you into fall or winter… just trust me on this one!

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Conchiglie with Mustard, Sausage, and Thyme

Inspired by Food & Wine
Serves 4

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Gather:
1 pound conchiglie pasta (shells), or other bite-size pasta
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound mild italian sausage or ground pork
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons fresh thyme, plus more for garnish
3/4 cup white wine
4 tablespoons coarse grainy mustard
3/4 cup half and half
salt and pepper

Prepare:
Bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Season liberally with salt. Add pasta and cook according to package directions.

Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to a large shallow pan over medium heat. Add ground pork and proceed to break up the pork into bite-size pieces as it cooks. Cook for approximately 7 minutes, or until almost done. Clear a space in the pan, and add remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil to cleared space. Add crushed red pepper flakes and thyme to oil, and let fry for 10 seconds. Add wine to pan, scraping up any burnt bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the mustard and half and half, and toss to combine.

When pasta is al dente (tender to the bite), reserve a cup of pasta cooking water, and strain the rest of the pasta.  Add the pasta to the pan, and toss to coat the pasta with sauce. Add a little pasta water, if the sauce seems too thick and gloopy. Transfer to serving dish (if using, I won’t judge if you serve out of the pan, I’ve done it too) and garnish with a few springs of thyme.

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Rilo Kiley / Silver Lining I forgot how much I loved this song until I bought the album the other day… sigh. LOVE.

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