Pasta with Lamb Sausage and Kale

This is one of two chicken stock-butter emulsion sauces. I’m sure I’m not the first to do something like this, but these originated by trial and error in my own kitchen, rather than in someone else’s. They stem from the need for a quick-fix afternoon pasta – and the delightful challenge of figuring out what to do with whatever’s in the fridge at the time. Chicken stock, butter, and parmigianno are three regulars for me, and combining them in the right ratio and order yields a rich, sticky sauce that’s perfect for simple snack on its own, but can also serve as the basis for several others. The starch in the pasta in this case is your dear friend – in addition to adding some cooking water to the sauce, a good minute or two of finishing the pasta in the sauce sucks the whole thing together. I see the reduction of stocks into thicker building blocks, and then their dilution with butter, more frequently in the French realm of techniques, but I’m sure there’s a precedent for it somewhere in Italy; this, however, is my own treatise on the subject, and hopefully it’s comprehensive enough.

We are essentially starting with a liquid that is aromatic and flavorful, then adding several thickening and binding agents and reducing the liquid down so that the thickeners become more concentrated. Those agents are: the gelatinous elements of the stock, derived from chicken bones and other connective tissues; the starch from the pasta itself; and the fat from butter and cheese, held in suspension. The principle idea here is to reduce a chicken stock so that it becomes richly concentrated in flavor and its gelatinous elements begin to give it a thick and slightly sticky character (you’re on your way to a demi-glace). Same goes for the pasta starch. The butter is then held in suspension, which deepens the sauce’s flavor (by adding fat, of which your chicken stock has none) and body. Finally, the cheese is melted and incorporated evenly throughout – the final unifying element. The result is a sauce of the perfect consistency to coat every spec of pasta, to get in every nook, ridge, and cranny, or to lubricate in between long strands. This is NOT soup, however; it will not drip back into the bowl as the pasta is raised to your mouth, and there will be no extra to swirl your pasta around in or soak up with bread after you’ve finished, like a ragu. When done correctly, a butter emulsion sauce is at once sticky and airy – when done improperly, it is greasy and clumpy.

These are not the easiest sauces to manage, since your timing has to be pretty perfect and the margin for error is low. When the pasta is done, the sauce needs to be at the exact right consistency: undercook it and it will be too thin, like soup, over cook it and it will be too sticky and scarce to coat the whole batch. Get it to the perfect consistency ahead of time and let it sit, and it will separate into the aforementioned clumpy, greasy mess. The good news is that you can rescue it from any of these eventualities quite simply, and by knowing which tweaks to make when, you can always coax it to just the right consistency. Cooking the pasta in the sauce is a lovely way to quickly bring together a stubbornly thin sauce – but doing so for too long will overcook the pasta, so it really is a balancing act. Adding parmiggiano to the sauce itself is also a hugely successful way of evening out its consistency.

One important note: the higher quality and the more homemade your chicken stock, the more successful this will be. The recipe relies on the gelatinous material found in chicken stock made from bones, so some canned versions and most broth will not work nearly as well. You can reduce and reduce, and instead of concentrating down into something rich and sticky, it will just disappear.

The reward for both of these dishes is high – the first recipe is among my current favorites and is frequently in the rotation. The second is a last minute thing that I find especially rewarding for throwing something together with only what I’ve got in the cupboard or freezer – an evolved version of the original version of this dish.

Chicken stock-butter emulsion pasta recipe 1: Pasta with lamb sausage and rainbow chard

Ingredients:

• 2 TB olive oil
• 1 lb lamb sausage (or ground lamb)
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp each dried thyme and red pepper flakes
• dash of white wine
• 1 large bunch chard (rainbow, swiss, green, whatever – you can also use kale but see note below)
• 12 oz chicken stock, with more on hand if necessary
• 2 oz butter
• Salt and pepper
• 2 oz grated parmiggiano
• 1 box of short pasta

Directions:

Set a large pot of water to boil, heat oil in a large skillet. Remove the casings from the lamb sausage, and add to the oil when very hot. Sear the meat, breaking up with a spatula or spoon. When the meat is mostly cooked through, add the shallot and garlic. Reduce heat a bit to prevent it from browning too quickly or burning. Cook until the shallot has softened, stirring frequently.

Deglaze with white wine, then when almost all the liquid has evaporated, add all of the chicken stock, the thyme, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Bring to a brisk boil.

While it is reducing, prepare the chard: slice the stems away by running a knife parallel to the stem on either side. Reserve the stems for another use or discard. Coarsely chop the leaves crosswise in 2-inch strips. Wash thoroughly by plunging into a bowl of cold water and lifting out (not pouring), as many times as necessary until there is no grit or dirt at the bottom of the bowl. A more detailed description of the proper way to prepare greens is here. Dry the chard as thoroughly as possible – salad spinner if you’ve got one – and hold near the pasta.

When the chicken stock has reduced by half, add the butter, stirring vigorously to incorporate. Add the chard and continue to reduce.

At this point you are going to have to make a judgment call, based on how quickly the stock is reducing (a function of your pan, your stove, and how much liquid the chard added). Don’t worry this too much. When the sauce is noticeably thickened but still a little drippy if you lift a piece of chard out with a fork, you’re getting close and the pasta should be on. While the pasta is cooking, if it gets too far down, add cooking water from the pasta. Remember to stir vigorously whenever adding liquid, so that the fat goes into emulsion. When you’re at the stage where you feel like it’s very close, add the parmiggiano. Stir vigorously to incorporate, keep the boil on high, add cooking water in tablespoons if necessary, and you should be there. Turn the heat to low while you drain the pasta so you don’t lose momentum but don’t go to far.

Drain the pasta and add it to the pan. Toss to coat. Still too soupy? You fucked up, but you can still cook it down with the pasta in there for another minute or so. Too sticky and not enough to evenly coat everything? Hope you kept some cooking liquid from the pasta….

I make this sound a bit tougher than it is. Trust your instincts and know that it’s all about tweaking it – pushing it a bit too far, pulling it back, etc – in order to learn to read its consistency. In the end, all you’re doing is making a demi-glace, mounting it with butter, and tossing it with pasta. How complicated is that?

Note: I have made this recipe with kale as well, to great effect. The kale is tougher, however, and I cook it first. Rinse and chop it in the same manner, fill a large pot with 4 inches of water, bring to a boil, dump all the kale in, cover and cook for 15 minutes, tossing it with tongs every 3 minutes. Some will boil and most will steam, but all will get cooked. Drain it well before adding to the sauce. You may also make this recipe with spinach, but the tougher leaves like chard and kale compliment the coarseness of the sausage better.

Serve, of course, with cheese.