Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [26]
Peverada accompanies roast birds of all kinds, whether game or farm-raised. In Venice it is inseparable from roast duck, which is one of the dishes always present in the dinner taken aboard the boats that crowd the lagoon on the most important evening in the Venetian calendar, the Saturday in July on which the city celebrates its delivery from the plague.
6 or more servings
¼ pound mild pork sausage (see note)
¼ pound chicken livers
1 ounce cucumber pickles in vinegar, preferably cornichons
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil, or less if the sausage is very fatty
1 tablespoon onion chopped very fine
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
1½ teaspoons grated lemon peel, carefully avoiding the white pith beneath it
⅓ cup dry white wine
1. Skin the sausage. Put the sausage meat, chicken livers, and pickles into a food processor and chop to a thick, creamy consistency.
2. Put the olive oil and onion in a small saucepan, turn on the heat to medium, and cook the onion until it becomes colored a pale gold. Add the chopped sausage mixture, stirring thoroughly to coat it well.
3. Add salt and liberal grindings of pepper. Stir well. Add the grated lemon peel, and stir thoroughly once again.
4. Add the wine, stir once or twice, then adjust heat to cook the sauce at a very gentle, steady simmer, and cover the pan. Cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. If you find the sauce becoming too dense or dry, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water.
5. Serve hot over cut-up pieces or carved breast slices of roast birds.
Note Do not use so-called Italian sausages that contain fennel seeds. It is preferable to substitute good-quality breakfast sausage or mild pork salami.
Ahead-of-time note The sauce can be prepared up to a day or two in advance, and gently reheated, but its flavor is much better when it is used the same day it is made.
Equipment
The thing most cooks probably need least these days is another shopping list of cooking ware. Nearly all the kitchens I have seen, mine included, have more tools and pots and gadgets than are strictly needed. Nevertheless, there are certain pots and tools that, more efficiently than others, meet the fundamental requirements of the Italian way of cooking. They are few, but they are not to be overlooked and, since some of the items may be missing from an otherwise well-equipped kitchen, we had better see what they are.
THE SAUTÉ PAN
Sautéing is the foundation of most Italian dishes and a sauté pan is, by necessity, the workhorse of the Italian kitchen. It is a broad pan, 10 to 12 inches in diameter, with a flat bottom, sides 2 to 3 inches high that may be either straight or flaring, and it comes with a good-fitting lid. It should be the best-quality pot you can afford, of sturdy construction, capable of efficient transmission and retention of heat. Avoid nonstick surfaces that inhibit the full development of flavor a true sauté is designed to accomplish. A pan with these specifications will cook almost everything from the Italian repertory: pasta sauces, fricassees, stews, vegetables; it will handle cooking of any required speed, from a lazy simmer to hot deep-frying. You should own more than one such pan because you will encounter situations when it is convenient and timesaving to use them simultaneously for different procedures.
OTHER POTS
• You will find it helpful to supplement the sauté pan with skillets of varying dimensions. Bear in mind that, in Italian cooking, you need more broad, shallow pans than tall, narrow ones because, on a broad, shallow surface you can cook faster and bring ingredients to a more complete maturation of flavor.
• To boil pasta, a stockpot that accommodates 4 quarts of water comfortably, plus 1 to 1½ pounds pasta. It should be made of lightweight metal that transmits heat quickly and is easier to lift for draining. Indispensable companion