Penne in Ligurian Olive Oil with Balsamic Onion Confit, Mushrooms, and Sweet Italian Sausage

Tonight I discovered the simplest pasta dish imaginable, no not the final dish described in the title. Rather, the absolute minimalism of pasta with olive oil and sea salt. It would be deceptive to say any old olive oil would work here, indeed I remember trying this with Giachi Primolio, which on its own is the best olive oil I've come across, but it just didn't work (Giachi with bread is another story altogether). On a lark tonight, I tried this with Azienda Agricola San Domiano, the artisanal Ligurian olive oil I came across at Marczyk's recently.



So I won't tell you this is something you should fix for company, but if you happen to be a crazy foodie like me, the simple store bought dry pasta here was a fine canvas for experiencing this exceptional olive oil. My little sous chef approved as she gobbled this up, ignoring most of the rest of her meal. Anyway, this olive oil is subtle, nutty, and earthy with an early austere flavor note, not fruity like Primolio, but exceptional in its own way. While I've conducted or participated in a few informal olive oil tastings with close friends, up to now I would have foregone a formal event like this relegating it to the domain of snobs; oh Steve, you silly silly man.



So back to the fully composed dish at hand, this started off as an excuse to make onion confit and experiment with Martin Lersch's technique to expedite the maillard reaction with the use of baking soda. I minced 4 cloves of garlic, added a healthy dose of olive oil (not the good stuff), sauteed for 2 minutes, then added a little red pepper flake. To this, two yellow onions (small dice) were added along with a couple small pinches of baking soda. In 10 minutes time over medium low heat I ended up with very caramelized onions, a process which usually takes 20 minutes so I must attest to the efficacy of Martin's technique (a very cool addition to the repertoire deserving of more exploration).

From a flavor standpoint, the goal of the dish was to have a relatively simple base of pasta and olive oil, create a confit of onions infused with balsamic vinegar, and combine with mushrooms that were sauteed with rosemary. This was playing in the realm of savory with a light sweetness that I thought would pair well with some good fennel sausage. So in the end, the sausage would be the star, and the confit / mushrooms would be the supporting cast members. The results were distinctly Italian, the anise flavor of the sausage was enhanced by the onions and reduced balsamic flavor, there was a background herbal / earthy note from the mushrooms, and eating the pasta on its own brought you back to the simple pleasure of the Ligurian olive oil.