I am crazy for Asian food. Chinese, Japanese, Sushi, Thai food, you name it and I’ll try it. My favorite Thai dish is Pad Kee Moa, sometimes known as Drunken Noodles. It’s this delicious combination of extra thick rice noodles, stir fried veggies, egg, chilies, basil and the protein of your choice all covered in this spicy brown sauce. Sooo good!

Well I was looking for a Drunken Noodle recipe to make this delicious dish on my own, when I stumbled upon an Italian version of the dish. Josh is 50% Italian and would eat pasta for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I fixed it for him so I knew we had to try this delicious marriage of my favorite food and his favorite. I immediately pinned it to my Recipe board on Pinterest and worked it into our menu.

While there is some prep time involved and it’s not one of those dishes you can just walk away from, it’s pretty easy, doesn’t take too much time once you’ve prepped and it is fantastic! It’s flavorful, hearty, and is great the next day!

Italian Drunken Noodles

Serves 4

Here’s what you need-

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 4 spicy Italian sausage links, casings removed
• 1 large onion, quartered and sliced thinly
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 1 red bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced
• 1 orange bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, pressed through garlic press
• ½ cup white wine (I used Pino Grigio )
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
• 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• ¼ cup fresh basil leaves, julienned, divided use
• 8 ounces Pappardelle noodles, uncooked

Prep Work:

• Remove the casings from your sausage and crumble (or use bulk sausage)
• Slice onions and bell peppers
• Peel and press garlic (or use prepressed like I did)
• Julien basil—the easiest way to do this is to take you basil leaves, stack them on top of each other, roll them up, and thinly slice them
• Measure out salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings and place in ramekin
• Measure out wine and set aside

Preparation:

• Place a large, heavy-bottom pan or braising pot over medium-high heat; add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and once the oil is hot, crumble the spicy Italian sausage into the pan in small chunks (you want to keep the sausage fairly chunky), allowing it to brown in the oil for a few moments on each side; once the crumbled sausage is browned, remove it from the pan/pot with a slotted spoon and place into a small bowl.
• Next, add the sliced onion into the pan with the sausage drippings, and allow it to caramelize and become golden for roughly 5 minutes or so, stirring to keep it from burning (add a touch more olive oil, if necessary).
• While your onions are caramelizing, prepare the pappardelle noodles according to instructions on package.
• Once the onion starts to become golden, add the salt, Italian seasoning and cracked black pepper, and stir to combine, then add in the sliced bell peppers, and allow those to saute with the onion for about 2 minutes until slightly tender and golden.
• Next, add in the garlic, and once it becomes aromatic, add in the white wine and allow it to reduce for a few moments, until almost completely reduced
• Next, add in the diced tomatoes with their juice, and return the browned spicy Italian sausage back into the pan, and gently fold the mixture to combine; allow it to gently simmer for about 3-4 minutes to blend the flavors, then turn the heat off.
• To finish the sauce, drizzle in about 2-3 good tablespoons of the olive oil to create a silky, rich flavor, and add in the chopped parsley and about half of the julienned basil.
• Once the noodles are cooked, drain them well and add them directly into the sauce, using tongs to gently toss and combine the pappardelle noodles with the sauce and all of the ingredients in it—check the seasoning to see if you need to add any additional salt or pepper.

To serve, add equal portions of the “Drunken” noodles to bowls, and garnish with a sprinkle of the remaining julienned basil; you can even top with shaved Parmesan, if desired, and an extra drizzle of olive oil.

Noodles

Sauce

Italian Drunken Noodles

It’s so good and Josh approved. Give it a try if you’re a fan of Drunken Noodles or just like Italian, because you’ll be pleasantly surprised with this interesting combination. Make your own version and tell me what you think! Or share your favorite recipe–I’d love to try it!

–Mrs. Dominico

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