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