I talk with a lot people who are unsure what to do with ground bison aka buffalo. Ground bison is well known as being a leaner and often an organic substitute for regular ground beef. Beyond this, bison does have a distinct taste that is different than it’s beef counterpart; it just needs to be coerced out a little bit. Here is a dish that does just that. The flavour of the bison blends well in this simple fusilli pasta dish.  I used fusilli pasta since it has the advantage of picking up more sauce in the skillet than other types of pastas.

8 oz uncooked large fusilli
3bsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
1 minced clove garlic
1 1lb. ground bison
1/2 cup water with 1/2 tsp beef bouillon
1 cup no salt tomato sauce
2 oz Parmesan reggiano
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
12 cherry tomatoes cut into halves
4 tbsp goat cheese crumbles
black pepper, crushed red pepper and salt to taste

Tip: For restaurant style pasta , work on the sauce while the pasta is boiling so that the pasta can be added soon after the sauce is ready.

Heat a pot of water with 1 tsp kosher salt and 1 tbsp. olive oil. Boil the tagliatelle for 8-9 minutes until al dente

Add 1/2 tsp beef bouillon to 1/2 cup hot water, stir, dissolve and set aside.

Heat 3 tbsp of olive oil on medium in a large pan or skillet. Add onions, garlic, and cook for 2 minutes. Add ground bison and cook until meat is almost completely browned. Bring heat down 1 notch and add oregano, thyme, beef bouillon, then tomato sauce. Cook for 5 minutes.

Add drained pasta, and stir in. Then add Parmesan reggiano and stir in. Plate, then add cherry tomatoes and goat cheese crumbles.

Add black pepper, crushed red pepper and salt to taste