Lamb Sausage Pasta Food

LAMB SAUSAGE PASTA

Steps:

• Heat stockpot of salted water to boiling. Add pasta; cook as directed on package.
• In 12-inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add sausage; cook about 10 minutes, turning once, until golden brown and no longer pink (160°F). Remove sausage from skillet to plate.
• In same skillet, heat pasta sauce to a simmer, scraping bottom of skillet to lift brown pieces leftover from cooking sausage.
• Add 1/4 cup pasta water and the drained cooked pasta; toss. Cook 1 minute. Transfer to large serving platter. Top with sausage, cheese and basil.

ORECCHIETTE WITH LAMB AND ASPARAGUS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season well with salt. Cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than listed on the box, about 8 minutes. Drain well, reserving 1 cup pasta water.
• Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and the garlic and sweat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it apart with the back of a spoon, until cooked through and beginning to brown, about 8 minutes. Add the peas, asparagus and tomatoes and toss well to coat. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add 1/2 cup pasta water and simmer for 3 minutes. Add the pasta to the sauce and sprinkle 1 1/2 cups Parmesan on the bare pasta. Toss it with the sauce, adding the remaining 1/2 cup pasta water as needed to create a light tomato sauce. Stir in the thyme. Drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.

PASTITSIO WITH LAMB AND SAUSAGE

Steps:

• For the bechamel sauce: Melt the butter over medium-high heat in a saucepot, and then whisk in the flour 1 to 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk and season with some salt, pepper and a little nutmeg. Cook until the sauce thickens enough to coat a spoon and adjust the seasoning once more. Pour a ladleful of the sauce into a bowl with the yolks, whisking to temper the eggs before adding into the pot. Stir in the cheese and remove from the heat. For the spicy meat sauce: Heat 2 turns of the pan EVOO in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the lamb and sausage well, breaking up the meat as it cooks. Stir in the bay leaf, garlic, onions and peppers and sprinkle with the rosemary, some salt and pepper. Cook until the onions soften, 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook until fragrant, then pour in the wine and reduce by half. Add the stock and tomatoes, breaking them up as they cook, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Throw in the citrus rind and cinnamon stick to mellow the sauce, and simmer until the tomatoes cook down, 30 minutes. Discard the rind, cinnamon stick and bay leaf. For the pasta: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta to al dente. Just before draining the pasta, add 1 cup of the starchy cooking liquid to your sauce. Beat the egg whites until frothy and combine with the cheese, and then toss with the pasta. For assembly: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with EVOO. Spoon in half of the pasta, then layer with all of the meat sauce followed by the remaining pasta. Pour all of the bechamel on top as the last layer. (Cool and store for a make-ahead meal, bringing to room temperature before baking and serving.) Set the pastitsio on a baking sheet to catch any drips and bake until deeply golden on top, 1 hour. Cool 15 to 20 minutes, then cut and serve.

FETTUCCINE WITH MERGUEZ AND MINT PESTO

Steps:

• Make the pesto: Turn on food processor, and drop garlic through feed tube to mince. Add pine nuts through the tube and grind. Add mint leaves and process until mixture is combined. Scrape down bowl, and with machine running, slowly drizzle in the 1/3 cup olive oil. Process until blended. Transfer to a small bowl and season to taste with salt. Set aside.
• Make the pasta: Heat 3 quarts water in a large pot. As water comes to boil, heat oil in a large sauté pan, and sauté onion on medium-low until soft. Stir in cumin. Add merguez, increase heat to medium and cook, using two forks to break up the sausage and stirring all the while, until the meat is nubbly and no longer looks raw. Stir in sun-dried tomatoes, olives and 2 tablespoons of the pesto. Reduce heat to low.
• Add fettuccine to boiling water and cook about 5 minutes, until nearly al dente. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup of the pasta water, and set pasta aside. Add pasta water to the merguez mixture and let cook until liquid in the pan just coats the ingredients. Stir in lemon juice. Add fettuccine to sauté pan, tossing with other ingredients over low heat. Add salt to taste. Transfer to individual bowls or a serving dish and serve with remaining pesto alongside.