Sweet And Spicy Sausage Ragu Nachos With Pickled Onions Food

SPICY SAUSAGE RAGU NACHOS WITH PICKLED ONIONS

Steps:

• Make the ragu: Put the garlic, celery, onions and fennel in a food processor and puree to make a coarse paste. Coat a wide, deep pan with the olive oil and put over medium-high heat. Add the pureed veggies and season with salt; cook until all the liquid has evaporated and the veggies begin to stick to the pan-you want to brown the crap out of these guys until crud starts to form on the bottom of the pan. Stir occasionally to scrape up the browned bits, then let the crud form again. Be patient here and don't rush it: This is where the big flavor develops; it will take up to 30 minutes.
• When the lovely brown crud has formed and been scraped down a couple of times, stir in the tomato paste. Let it start to brown a little, stirring, 2 to 3 minutes. There's not much liquid at this point to keep things from burning, so move fast: Add the wine, stir to combine and scrape up any remaining browned bits. Cook until about half of the wine has evaporated, 4 to 5 minutes.
• Add the sausage and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until browned, 10 to 15 minutes. (This is where another round of big flavor is formed, so take your time.)
• Add enough water to cover the meat by about 1/2 inch. Stir to combine well, then add the bay leaves and thyme bundle. Taste, season with salt and taste again; it's by no means done, but it should taste good. Bring the sauce to a boil (BTB) and reduce to a simmer (RTS). Continue cooking for 3 hours, tasting, seasoning and adding more water as needed. Discard the bay leaves and thyme.
• Meanwhile, make the pickled onions: Combine the vinegar, 1/2 cup cold water, the sugar, 1 tablespoon salt and the hot sauce in a bowl. Add the sliced onion and let sit, at least 1 hour. Drain.
• Assemble the nachos: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spread a layer of tortilla chips on an ovenproof platter. Top with a layer of the ragu and cover with the parmigiano and fontina cheeses. Bake until the cheeses melt, 5 to 10 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the chopped chipotle, adobo sauce and mascarpone in a bowl. Sprinkle the arugula over the nachos and finish with dollops of the chipotle mascarpone and the pickled onions. A gooey cheesy treat. Delish.

SHRIMP SOUP WITH LIME-PICKLED ONIONS

Steps:

• Mix the sliced red onion with the lime juice and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a bowl; set aside. Pat the shrimp dry and season with salt and 1/2 teaspoon chili powder. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add half the shrimp and cook, until opaque, about 1 minute per side. Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining shrimp. Tent with foil to keep warm.
• Add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pot. Add the chopped red onion and cilantro stems and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder. Add the tomatoes and cook until starting to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1 cup water, the chicken broth, potatoes and a big pinch of salt. Cover and bring to a boil. Uncover and reduce the heat to a simmer; cook until the potatoes are tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Smash about half the potatoes with a potato masher. Simmer until thickened, 2 to 3 minutes; season with salt.
• Stir the cilantro leaves into the red onion mixture. Divide the shrimp and soup among bowls. Top with the pickled onion, avocado and corn nuts; serve with lime wedges.

SAUSAGE RAGù

Steps:

• With the tip of a small, sharp knife, slit open the sausage casings. Crumble the meat into a wide, heavy skillet or Dutch oven and set over medium-low heat. If the meat is not rendering enough fat to coat the bottom of the pan as it begins to cook, add olive oil one tablespoon at a time until the meat is frying gently, not steaming. Sauté, breaking up any large chunks, until all the meat has turned opaque (do not let it brown), about 5 minutes.
• Add onion, carrot, celery and parsley and stir. Drizzle in more oil if the pan seems dry. Cook over very low heat, stirring often, until the vegetables have melted in the fat and are beginning to caramelize, and the meat is toasty brown. This may take as long as 40 minutes, but be patient: It is essential to the final flavors.
• Add tomatoes and their juice, breaking up the tomatoes with your hands or with the side of a spoon. Bring to a simmer, then add thyme and rosemary and let simmer, uncovered, until thickened and pan is almost dry, 20 to 25 minutes.
• Mix tomato paste with 1 cup hot water. Add to pan, reduce heat to very low, and continue cooking until the ragù is velvety and dark red, and the top glistens with oil, about 10 minutes more. Remove herb sprigs. Sprinkle black pepper over, stir and taste.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil pasta until just tender. Scoop out 2 cups cooking water, drain pasta and return to pot over low heat. Quickly add a ladleful of ragù, a splash of cooking water, stir well and let cook 1 minute. Taste for doneness. Repeat, adding more cooking water or ragù, or both, until pasta is cooked through and seasoned to your liking.
• Pour hot pasta water into a large serving bowl to heat it. Pour out the water and pour in the pasta. Top with remaining ragù, sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately. Pass grated cheese at the table, if desired.

SWEET AND SPICY ONION RELISH

Steps:

• Peel the onions, cut in half and slice into 1-inch pieces. Add the onions and the vegetable oil to a large saucepan, over medium-low heat, and saute until soft. Stir in the black pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, garlic and brown sugar until incorporated. Add half of the root beer and let reduce until starting to get thick. Stir in the remaining root beer and continue to reduce until the liquid is almost completely evaporated.
• Serve on top of good quality, natural casing hot dogs with a good brown mustard and a little mayonnaise, to taste.

SUNNY'S SWEET AND SPICY BREAKFAST SAUSAGE

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, fennel seed, paprika, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
• Break the beef into chunks and add to a large bowl. Sprinkle the seasoning evenly over the top then with your hand gently mix the beef until the seasoning is evenly distributed. Divide the mixture into 8 even portions and roll gently into balls. Place back in the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• Remove the sausage from the refrigerator and one by one place each ball between 2 sheets of parchment paper. Using a meat pounder, flatten out the sausage balls into 1/8-inch thick patties.
• In a large saute pan or griddle over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and cook the sausage patties in batches. Sear on one side until caramelized and golden on the bottom, about 2 minutes, then flip to cook just a minute more on the other side.

SAUSAGE RAGU

Steps:

• Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Fry the onion with a pinch of salt for 7 mins. Add the garlic, chilli and rosemary, and cook for 1 min more. Tip in the tomatoes and sugar, and simmer for 20 mins.
• Heat the remaining oil in a medium frying pan over a medium heat. Squeeze the sausagemeat from the skins and fry, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, for 5-7 mins until golden. Add to the sauce with the milk and lemon zest, then simmer for a further 5 mins. To freeze, leave to cool completely and transfer to large freezerproof bags.
• Cook the pasta following pack instructions. Drain and toss with the sauce. Scatter over the parmesan and parsley leaves to serve.

SPICY SAUSAGE NACHOS

Steps:

• Remove sausage casing and discard.
• Fry sausage meat in a pan over medium heat until cooked through and crumbles (approximately 10 minutes), remove meat from pan; cool.
• Spread half of the nacho chips on a large oven proof platter, sprinkle half the cheese evenly over the chips, followed by half of the warm sausage meat.
• Place platter in a 400°F pre-heated oven for approximately 3-4 minutes or until cheese has melted.
• Add the remaining chips, cheese and warm sausage meat on top of the first layer.
• Bake until cheese is completely melted and chips are slightly browned on the edges, remove from oven.
• Sprinkle tomatoes, green onions, olives and jalapeno or banana pepper slices on top of nachos.
• If desired, spoon sour cream on top of natchos or serve on the side.