Recipe - Orecchiette With Red Wine Veal Sauce

One fourth pound Pancetta or bacon, cut into
1/4inch cubes
1 tablespoon Butter
1 teaspoon Minced garlic
1 pound Shallots (12 to 15 large),
peeled and thickly cut or sliced up
One half teaspoon Sugar
Salt & freshly ground pepper
1 One half cup Chicken or veal stock,
preferably homemade
One fourth cup Heavy cream (optional)
1 cup Tightly packed fresh herb
leaves, including rosemary,
sage, thyme, marjoram, flat
leaf parsley, and basil
1 pound Orecchiette
One half teaspoon Olive oil
1 One half cup Grated imported Parmesan,
preferably Parmigiano
Reggiano

1. Place pancetta in a large saute pan and cook over mediumlow heat,
stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 15 minutes. Using a slotted
spoon, remove from pan and drain on paper towels. Set aside. Pour off all
but 1 T of the fat.

2. Add butter to the fat in the pan. Add garlic, shallots, and sugar and
season lightly with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to lowest setting and
cook, covered, until shallots are soft and transparent, about 15 minutes.
Remove lid, raise heat to medium high, and cook, stirring constantly, until
pan has deep goldenbrown coating, about 10 minutes. Do not allow to burn.

3. Add the stock and simmer until reduced by onethird, stirring to loosen
brown bits from bottom of pan, about 7 minutes. The sauce can be prepared
up to this point several hours ahead and kept, covered, in the
refrigerator.

4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta. (Reheat the shallot
mixture if it was prepared in advance.) If using, add cream to shallots and
simmer for 2 minutes over high heat, until sauce thickens slightly. Keep
warm. Coarsely chop all but a small handful of herbs.

5. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and return to pot. Add
chopped herbs to sauce and cook for another minute. Season to taste with
salt and pepper. Add pasta to sauce and toss together over low heat for 1
minute. (As pasta and sauce heat, fry remaining herbs in One half t olive oil
until crisp, for garnish.) Stir in pancetta and One half C of the grated cheese.
Divide the pasta among 4 bowls. Garnish with fried herbs. Serve remaining
cheese on the side.

Martha Stewart Living/October/94 Scanned & edited by Di Pahl & gg
Posted to MMRecipes Digest V4 #028 by John Merkel jmerk@doitnow.com on
Jan 26, 1997.