Sausage of Spinach Noodle
This unusual “sausage” is a spinach pasta roll filled with seafood mousse. It is served on a basil-laced butter sauce.
Ingredients
- Mousse of Pike and Shrimp
- Fresh Pike Fillet - 7 ounces, chopped ( alt.: salmon, bass, or red snapper)
- Fresh Shrimp - 17 ounces, peeled, deveined, and lightly chopped
- Salt - 1-1/2 teaspoons
- Dash of pepper
- Egg - 1
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1-1/2 cups
- Pasta Dough
- Fresh Spinach - 3 ounces, stemmed and washed
- All-Purpose Flour - scant 1-1/2 cups
- Egg Yolks - 2
- Egg - 1
- Salt - 1/4 teaspoon
- Dash of pepper
- Olive Oil - 1/2 teaspoon
- Vinegar-Basil Butter Sauce
- Shallots - 2 tablespoons, chopped
- Cold Unsalted butter - 9 ounces, cut into small chunks
- Red Wine Vinegar - 1/2 cup
- Dry white wine - 1 cup
- Heavy (whipping) cream - 1/2 cup
- Tomato - 1 medium, peeled, seeded, and diced
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- Leek Garnish
- Leek - 2 medium, green part only, julienned
- Unsalted Butter - 2 teaspoons
- Salt to taste
- Chives or Parsley - 1/4 cup, chopped
Instructions
To prepare the mousse: Place the pike and 7 ounces of the shrimp into a food processor with the salt, pepper, and egg. Puree until creamy. With the processor running, slowly add the cream. Cover the mousse with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator.
To prepare the pasta: Blanch the spinach in boiling water for 15 seconds; refresh in ice water. Drain, then squeeze out as dry as possible. With a little of the flour, finely chop the spinach in a food processor, then add the remaining flour, egg yolks, egg, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Process just until a ball forms. Remove the dough from the processor; sprinkle with flour and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
On a floured board, roll the dough into 2 rectangles approximately 8-by-14 inches. Cover each rectangle with the prepared mousse and sprinkle with the remaining shrimp. Roll the sheets of pasta into 14-inch-long sausage-shaped rolls. Wrap the rolls in cheesecloth and tie the ends with cotton string. Tie loosely along the length of the sausage 3 or 4 times to keep the sausage shape while cooking.
Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil; reduce the heat until the water is just simmering. Add the sausages and simmer, turning occasionally, for 20 minutes. Remove and drain; let rest in the cheesecloth until ready to serve.
To prepare the sauce: Saute the shallots in 1 teaspoon of the butter until translucent. Add the vinegar and reduce until almost dry. Add the white wine and reduce again to very little liquid. Add the cream and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium and add the tomato, salt, and pepper. Bit by bit, whisk in the remaining cold butter. Remove from heat, keeping warm.
To prepare the garnish: Saute the leeks in the butter for 5 minutes. Season with salt. Keep warm.
To serve: Unwrap and slice the pasta roll. Stir the basil leaves into the sauce and pool each plate with sauce. Place slices of pasta roll on the sauce. Garnish with sauteed leeks and chopped chives or parsley.
