Gourmet Foods

• 1 lb. rigatoni (pasta)
• 1 lb. Italian pork sausage
• 3 tbs. olive oil
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 lb. fresh mushrooms
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 large can tomato puree
• ½ cup grated Pecorino cheese
• 1 clove garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste

Cut sausage in 1 inch pieces; place in hot skillet with olive oil; brown slightly for about 10 minutes. Add onion, mushrooms (well cleaned and sliced), garlic, salt, and pepper; simmer for 15 minutes. Add tomato puree and bay leaf. Cover pan; cook slowly for 1 hour. Remove bay leaf.

Cook rigatoni about 20 minutes in 5 quarts of rapidly boiling salted water. When tender, drain and place in baking dish. Add sausage and sauce. Mix. Sprinkle with grated Pecorino cheese. Bake in a moderate oven for about 10 minutes.

Serve very hot. Serves 6.

A pork and veal pate with strips of veal and ham makes slices with an attractive design. This is the most classic of mixtures, and all other pates follow this general pattern.

The basic pate mixture

• ½ cup finely minced onions
• 2 tablespoons butter
• A small skillet
• A 3 quart mixing bowl
• ½ cup dry port or Madeira, or cognac

Cook the onions slowly in the butter until soft and translucent; then scrape them into the mixing bowl. Pour the wine into the skillet and boil until reduced by half; add to the onions in the mixing bowl.

• ¾ pound (1 ½ cups) finely ground lean pork
• ¾ pound (1 ½ cups) finely ground lean veal
• ½ pound (1 cup) ground fresh pork fat (see note at beginning of the recipe)
• 2 lightly beaten eggs
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• ½ teaspoon thyme
• Big pinch all spice
• A small clove mashed garlic

Vigorously beat the ground meats, fat, eggs, and seasonings into the onions until all is thoroughly blended and texture has softened and lightened; 2 to 3 minutes. Sauté a small spoonful until cooked through; taste and correct seasoning if necessary.

The veal strips

• ½ pound lean veal from the round or tenderloin, cut into ¼ inch strips
• A bowl
• 3 tablespoons cognac
• Salt and pepper
• Pinch each of thyme and allspice
• 1 tablespoon finely minced shallots or scallions

Optional: 1 or more canned truffles cut into ¼ inch dice, and juice from can.

While preparing other ingredients to follow, marinate the veal in a bowl with the cognac and other seasonings, including the optional truffles and the juice from their can. Before using, drain the veal and truffles; reserve the marinade.

Forming the pate

• A 2 quart baking dish or pan (see notes at beginning of recipe)
• Sufficient sheets or strips of pork fat to enclose pate (see notes)
• 4 cups of the basic pate mixture
• ½ pound lean boiled ham cut into strips ¼ inch thick
• 1 bay leaf
• Aluminium foil
• A heavy cover for baking dish or pan
• A pan to hold baking dish in oven

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line bottom and sides of dish with strips of pork fat, pressing it firmly in place. Beat veal marinade into basic pate mixture, and spread one third in bottom of dish. Cover with half the strips of marinated veal, alternating with half the strips of ham. If using truffles, place them in a row down in the center. Cover with half the remaining pate mixture, the rest of the veal and ham strips, more truffles, and finally the last of the pate mixture. Lay the bay leaf on top; cover with a sheet or strips of pork fat. Enclose the top of the dish with aluminium foil and set on the cover (put a weight on top if cover is loose or flimsy).

Baking the pate

Set dish in a slightly larger pan in enough water to come two thirds the way up. Set in lower third of preheated 350 degree oven and bake for about 1 ½ hours, or until pate has shrunk slightly from baking dish and all liquid and surrounding juices are a clear yellow with no traces of rosy color.

Cooling, chilling, and serving

When done, take the dish from the water and set on a plate. Remove lid, and on top of the foil covering put a piece of wood, a pan, or a dish which will just fit into the baking dish. On or in it, place a 3 to 4 pound weight or parts of a meat grinder; this will pack down the pate so there will be no air spaces later. Cool at room temperature for several hours, then refrigerate, still weighted down, for 6 to 8 hours or overnight.

Cut serving slices right from baking dish at the table, or unmold the pate, peel off the pork fat, and serve the pate decorated in aspic. (Note: if you are keeping it for more then 2 or 3 days in the fridge, unmold the chilled pate and scrape all meat jelly off surface, as it is the jelly that spoils first. Wipe pate dry and return to baking dish or wrap in waxed paper or plastic wrap.)