Pasta alla Norcina (CI)

from Cook's Illustrated, February 2014

• Kosher salt and pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 8 ounces ground pork
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/4 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, trimmed
• 7 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 pound orecchiette
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 1/2 ounces Pecorino Romano cheese, grated (3/4 cup)
• 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Pulse mushrooms in food processor until finely chopped.

Dissolve 1 1/8 teaspoons salt and baking soda in 4 teaspoons water.  Add pork and fold gently to combine at let sit for 10 minutes.  Or in my case, until I prepped the 1 teaspoon garlic, 3/4 teaspoon rosemary, nutmeg, and 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg.  Smear with rubber spatula until well-combined and tacky.

Form into a 6-inch burger.

The brine and baking soda help the meat retain moisture.  Smearing the ingredidents together forces the proteins to stretch out and link up to form a strong network and springy texture.  And the patty shape helps the homemade sausage to stand up to a good sear.

Also, the butcher didn't seem inclined to repackage a 0.84 lb package of ground pork for me so I upped some of the ingredients in the recipe overall, but particularly the sausage part by 50%.

The remaining mise en place.  Using a new Bota Box of Riesling this time.

Sear sausage patty over medium-high heat until well-browned on both sides.  I guess technically the very center of the should be raw, but none of it looked too pink.

Chop sausage into 1/8 to 1/4-inch pieces.  Transfer to bowl and pour over cream.

I guess maybe I shouldn't have added 50% more cream, but that's fine.

Add 1 tablespoon oil, mushrooms, and 1/8 teaspoon salt.  Cook until mushrooms are browned.

Stir in remaining 2 teaspoons oil, remaining garlic, remaining rosemary, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.  Cook until fragrant.

 

Stir in wine, deglaze, and cook until completely evaporated.

Yeah, maybe too much cream.  One also adds 3/4 cups of the pasta cooking liquid in here as well.  Simmer until the pork's no longer pink?  The pork wasn't really all that pink as I mentioned earlier.

Remove pan from heat and add the Pecorino Romano.

 

Combine sauce, pasta, and lemon juice together.  I guess parsley if I really bothered when I only need a bit of a fresh herb.

You could loosen the dish up with more reserved pasta cooking water and season with salt and (imo a GREAT deal of) pepper.

People often ask me what's my favorite dish in general or out of recently executed recipes.  I never really know what to say except that maybe I cook Chicken and Dumplings a couple times a year.

This dish though?  Totally amazing and delish and a bit less time consuming than that other dish.  I kind of want to get the opportunity to show it off to someone.

Apparently this is widely considered to be the ultimate pasta and sausage dish?  Well I'm not going to argue with that.