Transfer the sausage to a bowl, leaving the rendered fat in the pan.
3. Build the vegetable base
Reduce the heat to medium and add 1 tablespoon of the butter.
Add the blanched fennel and cook for about 5 minutes, until it begins to take on a little color.
Add the mushrooms. Spread them across the pan and resist the urge to stir constantly.
Good mushrooms brown. Constantly stirred mushrooms steam.
Let them develop color before turning them. Once they’ve released most of their moisture and begun to caramelize, add the shallots.
Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, until the shallots have softened.
Add the garlic, thyme, rosemary and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook for about 1 minute, just until fragrant.
Don’t let the garlic brown.
4. Deglaze the pan
Pour in the white wine and scrape up every browned bit from the bottom of the pan.
Simmer until the wine has reduced by roughly half.
Add the chicken stock and return the sausage to the pan.
Simmer gently for about 5 minutes.
5. Cook the pasta
Return the fennel-blanching water to a vigorous boil.
Add the orecchiette and stir well during the first few minutes so the little ears don’t nest inside one another.
Cook until the pasta is about 1 minute short of your preferred texture.
Don’t rely entirely on the package directions. Taste several pieces, paying particular attention to the thicker centers.
Before draining, reserve at least 1½ cups of the pasta water.
Drain the pasta.
6. Bring everything together
Add the orecchiette to the pan with the sausage, fennel and mushrooms.