Rigatoni with Sausage and Butternut Squash
Over my twenty years of doing The Amateur Gourmet, I’ve been approached by fans a handful of times. Usually the exchange is quick and pleasant: I feel a thrill for being recognized and hopefully they feel a thrill for meeting their favorite nerdy, gay, old-school food blogger. However the exchange goes, I’m always on the same side of it; until a few months ago when the roles reversed and I fan-girled out over meeting my favorite food influencer, Hailee Catalano.
Sausages Braised in Cider with Apples and Onions
I can’t channel spirits, but I can channel recipes. Yesterday I was making an apple pie for our friends Jenny and Jared who were coming for dinner and I couldn’t quite figure out what to make for an entree. I knew I wanted it to be autumnal. I knew I wanted to use the apples that we picked this past weekend in Tivoli (the same apples that went into the pie). I knew pork needed to be involved (because pork + apples = good; haven’t you ever seen a pig with an apple in its mouth?). I wanted to serve it over polenta.
