Botifarra and Onion Marmelade

Dear Devon,

In early December, the Wall Street Journal published an article on botifarra, a traditional Catalan sausage made of ground pork and simply seasoned with salt and pepper. I was not surprised to see botifarra appear front and center on WSJ’s food page. I have been enjoying its rich and meaty flavor for weeks. One bite of this subtly seasoned sausage laced with black truffles will send anyone running to the butcher for more. I am especially fond of botifarra incorporated into tomato sauces or slowly braised with shredded cabbage. But my recent obsession has been in the form of a lunchtime sandwich. I pan fry the botifarra in a bit of olive oil. The links satisfyingly crackle and sizzled on the hot pan, the ends curl, and the skins crisp up nicely.


Found in every meat stall and butcher shop in Barcelona, botifarra at its most basic form is a lean pork sausage, without any of the trappings of luxury. Beyond this, the flavors are limitless ranging from the expected: wild mushroom, eggplant or basil to the wildly adventurous like pizza or chocolate flavors. It comes in four types: fresh, white (made with eggs), a black blood variety, and offal. I prefer fresh or botifarra blanca.

A sausage this good calls for a worthy condiment, something beyond bright yellow mustard or vinegary ketchup. I whipped up a quick dressing that I dubbed caramelized onion marmalade. It consists of sweet, golden caramelized onions mixed with fresh, crunchy diced red onions, a touch of spicy Dijon mustard, a splash of balsamic and a drizzle of olive oil. This marmalade was inspired by some of your creamy and tangy mustard sauces of lunches past.


Baguettes were sliced and toasted and smeared with a generous mound of onion marmalade. For “nutritional” value, I added a few pieces of leafy greens. The just-cooked through botifarra was eased on top, tucked into the lettuce and onions and topped by a second piece of toasted baguette.

For both our sakes, I will forgo tasting details. It would be too tortuous. Let’s suffice it to say that I will be enjoying this for lunch again soon.


Onion Marmalade
1 medium-sized red onion, thinly sliced
¼ cup red onion, small dice
2 sprigs rosemary
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp port wine
1 ½ tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil

2 sausage links (botifarra, if you can find it)
1 large baguette
lettuce

In a medium-sized skillet, heat 1 tbsp of oil. Add onions and rosemary sprigs and turn heat to low and slowly carmelize onions, 15-20 minutes. Throughout the carmelization process, add a touch of port to the onions to prevent scorching. When the onions are evenly browned, take off the burner and allow to cool.

While the onions are cooling, finely dice red onion, place into a medium sized mixing bowl. Add cooled carmelized onions, Dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Mix thoroughly. Set aside for 10 minutes before serving.

In a non-stick skillet over high heat, cook sausage, roughly 7-10 minutes. The skin should bubble up and be a bit charred.

Halve baguette. Using a serrated knife, slice lengthwise. Spread a generous spoon of onion marmalade onto the bottom slice of each halved baguette. Top with lettuce and sausage. Place remaining slice of bread on top to close the sandwich.

Jeff's Pasta with Sausage-Tomato-Pepper Sauce

Dear Michelle,

I think Spring might be my favorite time of year. All of the seasons have their upsides, though I imagine the recent warm weather is only reason I can say that of Winter right now. While Winter does mean cashmere and boots, fires and stews, it is easily my least favorite season. So I am thrilled by the first day that I open the windows because it is too warm in the house, and I can feel the outside air and hear the birds in the backyard. Spring brings with it the promise of sandals and skirts, and fresh, fresh, plentiful produce.

With the returning warmth, my appetite always starts to change. I begin to crave salads again, and other lighter fare, but the occasional cold day sends me back to the comfort food of Winter. Jeff made this warm, rich pasta dish for dinner on such an evening, and we ate it curled up on the couch while watching a movie.

For many years after we'd moved in together, it was understood that I'd be cooking dinner. This wasn't something we decided, but rather one of those things that just ends up that way. Then, slowly he started to cook more and more. He started off with the simple things, like hot dogs, then graduated to fried perogies with caramelized onion and fresh chopped tomato, and then one night he surprised me with this truly incredible spicy pasta sauce. I'd called to tell him to take care of dinner, as I was going to be home late, and I showed up to Jeff hovering over a pot of spaghetti sauce, which tasted AMAZING. He'd roasted hot Italian peppers, then combined them with sauteed onion, garlic, canned tomatoes, olive oil and butter, some herbs de Provence, and a dash of vinegar to pick it all up.


In this version of the sauce, Jeff first pan-cooks some sausage. He has a particular method for this, which he claims is the best; the links are pan fried, whole, until they brown, then split down the middle with a spatula and flipped to cook and crisp the inside. Once cooked through and browned sufficiently, the sausage is pulled from the pan and chopped. While that is cooling, the onions and garlic cook in the sausage fat, then everything else is added and the whole thing simmers for a while. The resulting sauce is perfect. It is rich with sausage, tangy and sweet from tomatoes and vinegar, spicy from the peppers, and softened by the butter. He usually tries to save a little extra for me, since I like to oven-cook eggs in the leftovers the next day.





I don't know what Jeff will master next, but I'm looking forward to it.


Spicy Tomato, Pepper, and Sausage Pasta Sauce

I'd bet that this will work with almost all pastas but angel hair and tiny pastas like orzo. We've had it with spagetti, fettuccini, orrechiette, and penne, and also used it as pizza sauce before. If you do not use sausage, saute the onion in several tablespoons of olive oil. Fresh basil is a great addition in the summer, as are rosemary, thyme, and oregano or marjoram. If you use a sweet pepper instead of a hot one, add some pepper flakes or hot sauce (Jeff uses Sriracha) for a kick.



about 1lb garlic sausage
1 sweet or hot pepper, deseeded
1/2 large or one small onion, diced (Jeff used a Vadalia for sweetness)
1 large can whole, peeled tomatoes (look for those with lower sodium), liquid reserved
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T butter
Sherry vinegar to taste
pepper
herbes de Provence
grated hard cheese as desired
about 1/2 lb pasta


Drizzle pepper with olive oil on baking sheet, and sprinkle with herbes de Provence and salt. Roast at 400F until very soft, or even till slightly browned.

Start a large pot of water boiling for the pasta, adding salt once it does.

Place sausages in pan over medium-high heat, and let cook till browned. Split open with a spatula (they may have started to split on their own), then turn upside down to cook the inside. Remove once crispy and cooked through; let cool and then chop. Reduce heat to medium-low, remove all but about 2 T of fat from pan, and add onions, stirring occasionally. Once onions start to become transluscent, add garlic and cook a few minutes longer. Open tomatoes. Pull out and squeeze to break up with your hands (I love this part!), directly into the pan. They tend to squirt tomato juice, so beware. Add half of tomato juice from tomato can, reserving the rest. Add vinegar, starting with about 1 T and adding additional to taste.




Adjust heat to maintain a steady simmer. Chop and add pepper, and hot sauce or pepper flakes if necessary. Add herbes de Provence. Add sausage back in. Simmer for at least a half hour, adding reserved tomato juice as necessary, starting the pasta cooking at the appropriate time. Take off of heat, stir in butter, and then drained pasta. Sprinkle with cheese if desired.