Pasta Alla Norcina Recipes

Steps:

• Cook's Illustrated Notes: For an authentic-tasting version, we had to make our own sausage. We streamlined the process by starting with store-bought ground pork and making a strong brine with salt to speed its effect. To ensure the juiciest (and most flavorful) possible sausage, we added baking soda and seared the sausage in the form of a patty on both sides before chopping it into small pieces and gently finishing it in the sauce of cream, wine, and mushrooms. Grease large dinner plate with vegetable oil spray. Dissolve 1⅛ teaspoons salt and baking soda in 4 teaspoons water in medium bowl. Add pork and fold gently to combine; let stand for 10 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon garlic, 3/4 teaspoon rosemary, nutmeg, and 3/4 teaspoon pepper to pork and smear with rubber spatula until well combined and tacky, 10 to 15 seconds. Transfer pork mixture to greased plate and form into rough 6-inch patty. Pulse mushrooms in food processor until finely chopped, 10 to 12 pulses. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add patty and cook without moving it until bottom is browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip patty and continue to cook until second side is well browned, 2 to 3 minutes longer (very center of patty will be raw). Remove pan from heat, transfer sausage to cutting board, and chop into 1/8- to 1/4-inch pieces. Transfer sausage to bowl and add cream; set aside. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large Dutch oven. Add pasta and 2 tablespoons salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve 1 1/2 cups cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot. While pasta cooks, return now-empty skillet to medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil, mushrooms, and ⅛ teaspoon salt; cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms are browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in remaining 2 teaspoons oil, remaining garlic, remaining 1/2 teaspoon rosemary, and ½ teaspoon pepper (and red pepper flakes, if using); cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in wine, scraping up any browned bits, and cook until completely evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in sausage-cream mixture and ¾ cup reserved cooking water and simmer until meat is no longer pink, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and stir in Pecorino (or Parmigiano Reggiano) until smooth. NOTE: You might want to add half of the cheese and taste, at first. Sometimes, the cheese can add a lot of salty flavor. Add more, if you desire. Add sauce, parsley, and lemon juice to pasta and toss well to coat. Before serving, adjust consistency with remaining reserved cooking water as needed and season with salt and pepper to taste. TASTING NOTES: Personally, I think the red pepper flakes add a nice extra kick. The lemon juice adds a nice acidity and balance to the saltiness of the pork sausage and cheese.

Steps:

• Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a pot large enough for a pound of pasta. Season generously with salt.
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil.
• Remove sausage from casing and cook until browned, while breaking into smaller pieces, about 5 minutes.
• Add garlic, shallot, fennel and nutmeg to skillet and cook until softened and lightly golden, about 2-3 minutes. If the pan looks a little dry, add more olive oil.
• Deglaze the pan with white wine. Reduce over medium heat until the wine is almost all evaporated, about 5-10 minutes.
• Add cream to the skillet. Cook over low heat until thickened.
• While cream sauce simmers, add your pasta to the boiling water. Cook 3 minutes shy of the package directions for al dente (the pasta will finish cooking in the sauce).
• Once the pasta is done, reserve 2 cups of pasta water (You won't use it all, but better to have and not need). Add the pasta directly to the cream sauce with a ladle or two of pasta water.
• Cook the pasta and sauce together over medium heat stirring and tossing constantly, until the sauce is thick and clinging nicely to the pasta. Add more pasta water as needed. If the pasta is still a bit too firm after 3 minutes, add a little more pasta water and continue cooking for an additional minute or until the pasta is cooked to your desired consistency.
• Remove from heat and add the grated cheese and an additional ladle of pasta water. Stir and toss vigourously until the cheese melts into the sauce. Adjust the consistency with additional cheese or pasta water, as needed.
• Serve immediately!