So this is a particular dish found in the trattorias of Bologna, Italy where we are holding the 2011 IVUSS conference (www.IVUSS.org) at my Alma Mater Universita’ di Bologna in September. I fell in love with the freshness of this pasta dish when studying in Bologna. Amazing how with simple ingredients combined in this way the flavors really jump.
But first, slice some cheese and sip a glass of Vaona Ripasso Valpolicella red wine to warm up the soul for this culinary adventure. Ripasso is Valpolicella that is mixed with the crushed grapes used for Amarone, valpolicellas big sister. So this table wine grabs part its big sister’s leftover soul and aspires to be big in her own right. So its “re-passed” into the grape mash of Amarone and takes on its flavor for half the price. Pretty cool huh?
Anyway back to the gramigna.
Ingredients
1 pound best sausage you can find
1 small yellow onion
Fresh rosemary
2 handfuls ripe roman or grape tomatoes
Gramigna or similar wide 1-2 inch long pasta
Panna or half and half if you must
Dry white wine, Frascati or a Pino grigio or Greco would do well.
Olive oil
In a large saucepan place a few circles of olive oil, chopped onion (handful), sausage and rosemary stripped from the branch.
Break up the sausage and let simmer covered until brown under medium heat.
Add the white wine until the mixture is floating in it and simmer down with low heat to a semi-dense sauce
Slice the tomatoes and add to the sauce and let simmer covered stirring occasionally until semi-dense
Slice the tomatoes and add to the sauce and let simmer covered stirring occasionally until semi-dense.
Add a few swirls of panna or half and half and simmer
Cook the pasta to al dente
Once Al Pasta is ready and the sauce is semi-dense
Drain the pasta and place it back into the large pot used to boil the pasta. Then fold the sauce over the pasta but leave about 1/3 of the sauce in the pan
Then, when serving the pasta add a few spoonfuls of the remaining sauce over the pasta.
Cook the pasta to al dente.. Serve with white or medium bodied red wine.
