Pasta alla Norcina (with home-made Italian Sausage)
A lot of home cooks underestimate how easy it is to make sausage at home. With a few quick steps, you can really dial in the flavor and quality of the sausage used in this dish, making the flavors of the garlic and white wine really sing!
This dish originates from the Umbrian town of Norcia – famous for its pork and generally show-casing truffles. While a truffle component does elevate this dish – it is not necessary.
Ingredients
Sausage:
453g ground pork
12g minced garlic
8g salt
4g black pepper, freshly ground
50ml white wine
1g nutmeg
Pasta:
50ml extra virgin olive oil
1lbs sausage (from above)
100g, shallot, finely diced
150ml dry white wine
260ml heavy cream
1lbs pasta (dry or fresh)
30g pecorino romano
30g parmigiano Reggiano
(truffle condiment – optional)
Preparation
1. For the sausage – begin by making sure your bowl and all of the ingredients are well chilled.
2. Either with a strong large spoon or the paddle attachment on your stand mixer, combine the pork and aromatics and slowly drizzle in the cold white wine. The mixing process should take no more than two minutes, and should result in an emulsified and sticky sausage mixture.
3. Chill this mixture either overnight or for an hour for flavors to develop.
4. (alternatively – use the sausage immediately for a less developed flavor)
5. When ready, begin by cooking your pasta noodles in a pot of water at a ratio of 4:1 (using my cold water noodle cooking method). Cover and bring to a simmer.
6. Meanwhile – begin searing the sausage in large pieces, breaking them up and caramelizing in a large wide sautepan.
7. As the sausage begin to caramelize – add the finely minced shallots and stir to incorporate and not burn.
8. When the sausage is brown and crumbled – deglaze with the white wine and cook off the raw alcohol.
9. Add the heavy cream and reduce by about half, reduce heat to low until pasta is al dente.
10. Drain pasta from starchy water and combine sauce with some reserved starchy water and emulsify combine.
11. Sprinkle in the cheese and continue stirring off the heat to melt. Add additional reserved pasta water as needed to adjust consistency.
12. Serve and top with extra cheese and truffles.
View Recipe 
