Pasta alla Norcina

INGREDIENTS:

  • For the sausage

    • 12 oz chilled ground pork

    • 1 minced garlic clove

    • 1 teaspoon salt

    • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

    • 1 pinch nutmeg

    • 2 tablespoons chilled white wine

  • For the Pasta

    • 2 tablespoons olive oil

    • 1 chopped onion yellow or sweet

    • 1 cup heavy cream or half and half

    • salt and pepper to taste

    • 12 oz dried penne pasta

    • nutmeg

    • 1.5oz Perorino Romano finely grated

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

  • In a medium bowl, combine pork, garlic, salt, pepper, and nutmeg and mix with hands until integrated.

  • Add 2 tablespoons chilled wine and mix with hands until sticky, for 1 to 2 minutes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

  • Remove sausage mixture from refrigerator and form into four 1/2-inch-thick patties .

  • In a large skillet or straight-sided sauté pan, heat oil over medium-high heat until shimmering.

  • Add sausage patties and cook until bottom side is light golden brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Using a thin metal spatula, turn sausage patties onto uncooked side, leaving an open area in the center of the skillet.

  • Add onion, lower heat to medium, and cook, using a wooden spoon to break up sausage into 1/2- to 1-inch pieces, until sausage is just cooked through and onion is softened, about 2 minutes, lower heat at any point if sausage or onion threaten to scorch.

  • Increase heat to medium-high and add wine. Bring to a simmer and cook, swirling pan and scraping up any stuck-on bits with a wooden spoon, until wine is reduced by roughly half, about 30 seconds.

  • Add cream, bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring frequently to keep cream from scorching on sides of the pan, until sauce is slightly thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and reduce heat to lowest possible setting to keep sauce warm and prevent it from over-reducing.

  • In a pot of salted water, cook pasta until just shy of al dente (about 2 minutes less than the package directs). Using a spider skimmer, transfer pasta to sauce, along with 1/2 cup pasta cooking water.

  • Increase heat to high and cook, stirring and tossing rapidly, until pasta is al dente and sauce is thickened and coats noodles and pools around edges of the pan, about 2 minutes; add more pasta cooking water in 1/4-cup increments as needed to achieve desired consistency.

  • Remove from heat, add Pecorino Romano, and stir rapidly to incorporate. Divide between warmed serving bowls, top each portion with a grinding of black pepper, grated nutmeg, cheese. Serve immediately.