INGREDIENTS
Sauce
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 celery rib, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- Fine sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 pounds sweet sausage, casings removed
- 3/4 cup dry marsala
- 3/4 cup dried porcini, soaked in 2 cups warm water for 1 hour
- 1 black truffle (about 1 ounce), very finely diced, canned if fresh not available
- 1 cup chicken stock
DIRECTIONS
Pour the olive oil into a flameproof casserole and warm over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery and carrot, season with salt and pepper and sauté very slowly until caramelized (about 8 minutes).
Meanwhile, crumble the sausage by hand and add it to another sauté pan. Cook over low heat until the meat is browned and the fat is rendered. Drain off the fat and add the sausage to the pan with the vegetables. Use a whisk or fork to break u the sausage even more.
Add the Marsala, raise the heat to medium-high, and let it evaporate, about 2 minutes. Drain the porcini in a fine-mesh strainer set over a bowl. Strain the soaking liquid through a double layer of cheesecloth set over another bowl. Set the strained liquid aside.
Roughly chop the porcini and add them to the casserole. Stir well and cook for 10 minutes.
Add the truffle and the porcini-soaking liquid and cook very slowly for an hour. If the sauce becomes dry, add a little chicken stock.
For the Polenta
INGREDIENTS
- Fine sea salt to taste
- 1-1/4 cups quick-cooking polenta
- 1 cup water, simmering in a pot on a back burner
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
DIRECTIONS
You can either use the instructions on the package or follow this procedure: Pour 6 cups water into a deep heavy pan and salt it lightly. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and, beating continually with a whisk, add the polenta slowly and gradually. Stir constantly as you cook the polenta, until it reaches the consistency of a creamy porridge, about 5 minutes. Add some of the simmering water if the polenta becomes too thick. Stir in salt to taste and the olive oil, then cover and set the polenta asked in a warm place until you are ready to serve.
Serve the polenta from a big serving plate topped with the norcina sauce or from individual plates.
TIP
Select a young Rosso di Montalcino - the Brunello table made with grapes from this year’s first harvest (the younger the better) from Tuscany.