Pasta with Soybeans, Tomatoes & Sausage

This recipe came from Bon Appétit May '08. Matt picked it because it has a lot of things we like in it especially sausage. The original recipe called for fava beans which we couldn't find fresh or frozen so we substituted frozen soybeans. We also substituted fresh fettuccine for the fresh pasta sheets the recipe used. For the sausage we used our own homemade bulk Italian sausage.

This was one of those meals where we liked it, it was ok but there was nothing about it that makes us want to have it again. I felt that even though our Italian sausage is really tasty this dish was a little bland. Also the recipe kept talking about a sauce but we had really very little liquid even after adding the pasta water, maybe our tomatoes weren't a ripe as could be. I doubt we'll make this again as we already have a that we really love.
Here's the recipe as we made it.

2 T olive oil
1/2 c finely chopped onion
2 large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/8 t dried crushed red pepper
1/2 lb bulk Italian sausage
1/4 c dry white wine
1 3/4 c chopped plum tomatoes
1 c shelled soybeans
9 oz fresh egg fettuccine
2 T finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese plus additional for passing

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add next 3 ingredients. Sauté until onion is translucent, about 6 minutes. Add sausages; break up with fork. Sauté until brown, about 3 minutes. Add wine; simmer 1 minute, scraping up browned bits. Add tomatoes and soybeans. Sauté until tomatoes soften, about 5 minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid. Return pasta to same pot.

Add sauce to pasta. Toss over medium heat until sauce coats pasta, adding reserved cooking liquid as needed if dry, about 2 minutes. Mix in 2 tablespoons cheese. Transfer pasta to bowl. Serve, passing additional cheese.

Makes about 3 servings