Armenian Pilaf with Italian Sausage:

Although I am not an Armenian I have many friends who are, and one night I did sleep on a nest of Armenian Pillows so I suppose that makes me an honorary Armenian. The Armenians are very quick at adapting anything to their cuisine that tastes good and they aren’t hesitant about crossing the ethnic line when it comes to cooking. This recipe comes from New York City and is supposedly the result of the Armenians meeting the Italians in Little Italy in New York early in the 20^th Century.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ pounds of Italian Sausage, sweet or hot according to taste.
• 1 cup of your favorite Italian Spaghetti Sauce (Your Choice)
• 4 tablespoons of butter
• 1 large clove of minced garlic
• 1 handful of egg noodle or angelhair spaghetti broken into short pieces
• ½ cup of chopped onion
• 1 cup of sliced mushrooms
• ½ teaspoon of dillweed or oregano
• 1 cup of white rice
• 2 cups of chicken broth
• ½ teaspoon salt or too taste
• ½ cup of lightly toasted pine nuts or shelled, crushed walnuts (optional)

Method

1. The butter is melted in a 2 quart saucepan over a medium heat. At the same time the Italian Sausages are cooked in a frying pan with 1 ½ cups of water until they are thoroughly cooked and the water boils away leaving slightly browned sausages. Stir in the pasta and allow it to brown without burning, add the garlic, chopped onion, dillweed or oregano, and the sliced mushrooms.
2. Meanwhile heat the broth and salt to boiling in a separate pan pour over the rice and mix thoroughly afterward allow it to cook in a covered saucepan for 25 to 30 minutes. (As the cooking time comes to an end the steam will recede) Don’t peek at the rice while it is cooking.
3. Add the rice to the prepared pasta, toss the pilaf lightly adding a dry paper towel to the inside of the cover to absorb moisture. Let the pilaf stand for 10 minutes. A very important step allowing the different flavors in the pilaf to meld.
4. Pour the pilaf into a casserole dish and cover with your favorite spaghetti sause; place the Italian sausages on top and place into an oven preheated to 375 degrees F and cook for an additional minutes.

Garnish with the nuts if desired.