Spicy Italian Sausage and Shrimp Linguine with Honey-Tomato Sauce

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - If you’ve never paired fresh tomatoes with honey and vinegar, this sauce might seem a bit unusual at first, but it is actually quite delicious. This simple dish becomes extraordinary when enhanced with Gulf shrimp and spicy Italian sausage.

Prep Time: 45 Minutes

Yields: 6 Servings

Ingredients:

• 2 links Italian sausage, casing removed
• 1 pound (21–25 count) shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1 (12-ounce) package linguine, cooked
• ¼ cup honey
• 8 large Creole tomatoes, diced
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• ½ cup lightly packed, julienned basil leaves
• 1 tbsp sliced cayenne pepper
• OR 1 red jalapeño pepper, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
• salt and black pepper to taste
• ¼ cup sliced green onions
• 1 large basil sprig

Method:

Pinch Italian sausage into small, marble-sized meatballs. Roll and set aside. In a large sauté pan, heat ¼ cup olive oil over medium-high heat. Add meatballs and sauté for 2–3 minutes or until browned on all sides. Add garlic and sauté until lightly browned around the edges, approximately 1 minute. Add fresh tomatoes and blend well into mixture. Stir occasionally until juices begin to develop. add julienned basil and cayenne pepper to the tomato sauce. A small amount of water (¼ cup) may be added to the sauté pan if the tomato sauce is a bit dry.

Add balsamic vinegar and honey, stir well into the mixture then season to taste using salt and pepper. Add shrimp and green onions to the tomato sauce and cook until shrimp are pink and curled, approximately 2 minutes. Coat cooked pasta with remaining olive oil. Place 1–2 cooking spoons of tomato sauce into the cooked pasta and blend well. Place lightly coated pasta onto the center of a large serving platter and top with remaining sauce mixture.

Arrange shrimp and sausage as a garnish around the edges of the platter then top with basil sprig.

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