Dreaming of Venice.....

The most beautiful cookbook on my shelves by far is written by a lady called Tessa Kiros, all her books are gorgeous but this one really steals the show. The pages are edged in gold, the book mark is black velvet. The photograpy stunning, stumbling across scenes of Venice and little stories about the place as you flick through it.  It really is too lovely to get dirty in the kitchen and that may be why I haven't really cooked from it much yet, and to be honest even if I was never to I wouldn't part with it...  But fortunately that is not the case, the following recipe is one of my favourite things ever to do with the humble sausage.

In my head I call them Venetian Sausages but according to the book it is Sausages and Polenta, or as it puts it 'Luganega e polenta'.  I don't serve it with polenta as the family is not keen so we serve it with mash.

The recipe to serve 6 is as follows -
120g thinly sliced pancetta, chopped
6 good (and I mean GOOD) large pork sausages (about 650g) pricked all over
1 small onion, sliced
250ml white wine (or red is good too she says, I've not tried that yet to comment)

Begin by sauteing the pancetta till it releases a little oil in a frying pan which just nicely fits your sausages in. After the oil starts seeping add the sausages and cook till they are getting golden in places. Remove the pancetta and set aside till later to stop it overcooking. Add the sliced onion to the sausages and continue cooking till that is soft and golden.

Return the pancetta to the pan and add the wine and simmer for 15mins before turning over the sausages and simmering again for another 15mins. The sausages should be golden, the wine evaporated and everything looking once again like it's just frying in oil.  Serve a sausage per person along with the rich sauce over some polenta or mash.

 

I love to serve this with the cabbage that Tessa recommends - La Verza Soffagata - or Suffocated cabbage to you and me.

You simply fry a sliced onion till soft and golden in a few tablespoons of oil and then add about 750g of sliced savoy cabbage to the pan with a bit of salt and stick a lid on and cook down till it's wilted. Add 125mls of white wine and allow to bubble for a minute without the lid. Then add a couple of tablespoons of passata, 1 pint of water and a pinch of chilli. Put the lid back on, bring to boil and simmer for 30mins. After which take of the lid, turn up the heat and cook for another 10mins till most of the liquid has evaporated. By which time it should be lovely and soft, season to taste and serve.

Enjoy

 

 

Whilst we are here talking of Venice I would like to introduce you to my absolute favourite eating place, if I were to have one last wish it would be to return to this little corner in Venice and enjoy one last meal here. If you ever find yourself in this beautiful city, please seek it out...

Ostaria al Ponte