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Fettuccine with Turkey Sausage and Kale

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

Fettuccine with Turkey Sausage and Kale

 

When I blogged on my last weekend's baking, I threw in a photo of the pasta batch I had also made. Well, the pasta generated as much discussion as the breads … maybe more. So, I thought I'd write up the pasta dish we had for dinner tonight. (I know it's not bread, but I hope it's okay to post it on TFL anyway.)

Fettuccine with Turkey Sausage and Kale

I use Marcella Hazan's recipe for fresh pasta. It calls for 2 large eggs and 1 ½ cups of AP flour. I used Caputo tipo 00 Italian flour and found I had to add a couple tablespoons of water for the dough to come together.

I mix the dough in a food processor. It ends up in the bowl like coarse cornmeal, but, when pressed together and kneaded, it forms a firm dough. I roll the dough into a log, wrap it in wax paper and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes. This works like an autolyse to evenly hydrate the flour.

I then divide the dough log into 4-6 equal pieces with a sharp knife and make pasta sheets with an Atlas, hand cranked pasta machine. After drying these for a few minutes until they are leathery, I cut them into the desired widths with the Atlas attachment. If the dough is sticky, it should be dusted with flour before cutting. The cut pasta is then dried completely (12 hours) before placing in plastic bag for storage. If completely dried, it will keep at room temperature for months. When rolled to the thinnest setting, this cooks in a couple minutes, tops.

The sauce comes from the March, 2006 Gourmet Magazine. It can also be found on Epicurious.com here.

I make my own turkey sausage, using a recipe for home made Italian Sausage, substituting ground turkey thigh meat for pork shoulder. Here's my recipe for the sausage:

This is the original recipe scaled down for 1 lb of meat and with my notes in italic:

1 lb. ground pork shoulder. I use ground turkey or chicken dark meat.

1 clove crushed garlic.

¼ cup cold water. Omit if using ground poultry.

1 tsp salt

¾ tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp fennel seeds (preferably ground)

1 T grated pecorino romano cheese. I use parmesan.

1 T chopped Italian parsley

¼ tsp red pepper flakes (Optional)

Mix all ingredients together.

This freezes well. It is wonderful in sauces for pasta and on pizza.

Since Kale is unfamiliar to many, a few words about it seem called for. Kale is a green, leafy member of the cabbage family. It has been cultivated in Europe as long as history has been written. I have read that it was among the most common vegetables eaten in Europe prior to the late Middle Ages. It has many nutritional virtues, including powerful anti-oxidants and lots of vitamins and minerals. (For more information, see Wikipedia on Kale.)

Recipes using kale generally neglect the basics of preparing it for cooking. It has a fibrous central midrib that is not edible. After washing, the edible leaf is cut away from the midrib. The kale is often parboiled before adding it to the rest of the ingredients.

Kale, washed before removing stems

I cut along each side of the central stem with a sharp paring knife, then pull the stem free

Kale after removing the stems

So, with that introduction, here is my version of the recipe for Fettuccine with Turkey Sausage and Kale (Note: This recipe serves 4 as a main course):

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 lb turkey Italian sausage, crumbled

1/2 lb kale, tough stems and center ribs discarded and leaves coarsely chopped

1/2 lb fettuccine

2/3 cup home made chicken broth

1 oz finely grated parmesano reggiano cheese (1/2 cup) plus additional for serving

Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then cook sausage, breaking up any lumps with a spoon, until browned and no longer pink inside, 5 to 7 minutes.

Meanwhile, blanch kale in a 6-quart pot of boiling salted water , uncovered, 5 minutes. Remove kale with a large sieve and drain.

Keep the cooking water in the pot and return it to a boil, then cook pasta in boiling water, uncovered, until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta in a colander.

While pasta cooks, add kale to sausage in skillet and saute, stirring frequently, until just tender, about 5 minutes.

Sausage and Kale, at this point in the recipe

Add broth, stirring and scraping up any brown bits from bottom of skillet, then add pasta and 1/2 cup reserved cooking water to skillet, tossing until combined. Stir in cheese and thin with additional cooking water if desired.

Serve immediately, with additional cheese on the side.


Buon appetito!

David

 

 

Comments

fancypantalons's picture
fancypantalons

I recently signed up for a locally-produced vegetable delivery service in my city, and one of the vegetables they'll be including the box was, yup, Kale.  Previously, I was at a loss for what to do with the vegetable (other than serving it as a side-dish, blanched and sauteed with garlic), but this is absolutely perfect!  Plus, it gives me an excuse to make fresh pasta. :)

So thanks for sharing!  I'm really looking forward to trying this out... yum!

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

David

txfarmer's picture
txfarmer

I have been wanting to get the pasta rolling attachment for my KA so I can make my own noodles, this is pushing me over the edge.

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

I requested one last Christmas..but my husband didn't really know what to get...I think Amazon has the best buy and free shipping.

Sylvia

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

I'm a very big fan of kale.  Love the flavor, in fact I love all my greens.  I just finished off serval pots of mustard greens I had planted.  I could make a meal of greens just on their own.  My best friend has macular degeneration and I've since even upped my greens intake...kale has all the right supplements that fights this disease.  I don't even bother with scissors..I just pull my hand right down the vein and strip the kale leaves.

Sylvia

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

I'd never had kale until 2-3 years ago. I really like it and would like to try more ways of using it.

David

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

I love kale in soups.  Especially a nice Minestrone or Canellini bean and kale soup with baguette slices 'crostini with garlic and olive oil' to dip, or potato, kale soups...just great in soups.  Added  select young tender leaves, larger is tougher and can be bitter tasting and you have to cook it longer.  Grows all winter.  I have a picture of my mom when she was visiting friends on their farm in Ireland standing in a field of kale.

Sylvia

SylviaH's picture
SylviaH

even sweeter.

wally's picture
wally

And more than a fitting use for your homemade fettuccine.  Mouth-watering!

Larry

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

David

DonD's picture
DonD

Hi David,

This looks seriously delicious!

Pasta is flour, starch, dough, water etc. same as bread so I am glad you posted it on TFL. Now you are making me dig out the Atlas hand cranked pasta machine that my wife brought back from Italy when she was still single. All your fault...

Don

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

You're gonna thank me!

Truth is, there have been periods when I haven't made pasta at home for several years. Whenever I resume making it, I can't believe I stopped. It is so good!

It's getting to be high season for pasta primavera, so dig out that old Atlas, and put it to work!

David

 

Aussie Pete's picture
Aussie Pete

David,

Thankyou for the information on the Kale vegetable.

After looking at the photo I feel that it may?? come from the spinach family. It looks like and appears to be treated in the same manner as spinach. I'm only guessing from the photo.

Cheers...............Pete

dmsnyder's picture
dmsnyder

As near as I can tell, they are not related plants, but certainly they overlap in usage. Kale does not get mushy when cooked as spinach can. And their flavors are very different. Kale has a much more pronounced, distinctive flavor - not like that of any other member of the cabbage family, to which it belongs.

David

EvaB's picture
EvaB

I cannot believe that Kale is such an odd ball of greens in your part of the world, my Grammy came from Missouri and we ate kale as a green for years, but we don't bother to remove the ribs, and fuss with it, they are eaten steamed (used to be boiled) and with lemon and butter! Good for you and delicious. Also have had it shredded in coleslaw, and plain on the plate (usually for decoration in a resturaunt) and just plain good no matter how presented.

We also wildcraft dandelion greens, pigweed, and nettles, all first up in spring and a tonic for the winter blahs. Winter here in my part of the world, is usually from about the beginning of October (can have snow earlier and do have it later but nothing is growing by then) up to the end of April or middle of May depending on the year, this year we had spring early, leaves the 20th of April very early as the earliest before was the 28th and that was about 6 years ago. Usually the beginning to middle of May for leaves. Winter blahs are serious here.

Same grammy used to make egg noodles by putting flour on counter (table top actually) and mixing in the eggs by hand, cutting in wide strips with a knife and putting into the chicken soup to cook! YUM!