Rent this (http://imdb.com/title/tt0052631/) movie!!! Then you'll understand about the sausage! ;-)

Ugh! Trying this again... http://imdb.com/title/tt0052631/

Hmm . . . are you serious? Anthony Quinn and Sophia Loren are connected with sausage? How about a hint? The closest connection I could find on google was a movie called "Lady Liberty" (1972) with Sophia Loren: "An Italian woman (Sophia Loren), on her way to join her husband-to-be in America, is stopped at U.S. customs for trying to bring an outsized sausage into the country. When she refuses to hand it over, she creates something of a minor international incident."

Anthony Quinn plays a widow who has a young daughter who tries to do her best and cook for him. One of his favorites dishes is italian sausage, yet she never prepares it properly. Meanwhile, Sophia Loren enters his lonely life. One day she comes over and decides to cook for him at the same time showing Anthony's daughter the proper way to cook italian sausage. The movie is a lot more romantic and heartbreaking than that; the sausage scenes are actually rather minor.

I'm just full of odd bits of information like this. Go figure! :-)

The sausage scenes may be minor, but they sound good! The movie looks interesting, too. Thanks for the tip.

leeks are considered good luck veggies by the chinese. :)

and i'm forced to eat it every chinese new year eve by granny. so that money will come to me. :p

After reading about what Teresa went through to obtain the recipe for this pasta, I felt compelled to search out Giuliano Hazan and request his permission to print the recipe. I contacted him via his website (http://www.giulianohazan.com), and not only did he permit me to reprint the recipe, but he also offered an explanation for why he suggests cooking the sausage with water:

"The reason why I cook the sausage with water is because, assuming the sausage has enough fat in it, the fat will melt as the sausage cooks in the water and once the water has evaporated it browns in its own fat without the need for oil or butter."

Fusilli with Sausage and Leeks
by Giuliano Hazan
from Every Night Italian
(Scribner, 2000)
Serves 4 to 6 people

3 medium leeks
8 ounces mild Italian sausage (casings removed)
2 tablespoons butter
salt
freshly ground black pepper
1 pound fusilli
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

To make, follow the directions above in the original post.

Thanks Giuliano!

Hi,

If I'm not crazy about Parmigiano-Reggiano is there something else I can use to add to the pasta? I'm dying to try this!

Thx,
John

You're not crazy about parmigiano-reggiano! I think that might be a sign of craziness (just kidding). You could substitute another hard, aged cheese like pecorino romano. If that doesn't work, you could probably skip it altogether. It adds additional flavor and also helps bind the sauce. A handful of toasted home-made bread crumbs might do the trick as a substitute that helps in binding. I've seen this in other pasta recipes.

Thanks for the reply and yes I am crazy, just ask my friends Mr. Ed and my talking dog Fou Fou... Anyways,I guess I have a slight aversion to the reggiano cuz the smell is too darn pungent (like aged gym socks). I'll try your other suggestion w/ the pecorino romano; hopefully its not as pungent. Thanks for an awesome blog and keep up the excellent work!

John, Gym socks? You are crazy! I love the smell. The chances are if you don't like reggiano, you're not going to like pecorino either, which smells strong. You may be better off trying the breadcrumbs.

Told u I was crazy... I'm gonna sample the pecorino and if negatory, breadcrumbs it shall be!

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