Hearty fettuccine could be winner with poker crowd

Fixing the right foods for poker night

When it comes to poker night, the cards rule in more ways than one. Trying to prepare a sit-down dinner, and trying to get the guys to eat it would disrupt the game, so it's buffet all the way.


Players who find themselves on a winning streak will most likely be glued to the table, so the food and snacks you prepare will need to be easy to eat and transportable. The fewer utensils, the better – but remember, messy hand-held foods such as ribs, wings and salsas are out.


And the eating goes on as long as the cards and money hold out, so whatever you put on the buffet has to hold up for hours.


Maybe the next time you host poker night at your home try a Sinatra-inspired offering of marinated vegetables, antipasti platters of sliced Italian meats and cheeses, Italian bread with olive oil; and a hearty pasta laced with sweet onions and Italian sausage.


The fettuccine sauce is based on a classic meatless Italian pasta sauce made by slow cooking onions over low heat for a couple of hours. The sauce always intrigued me, but I have never truly been satisfied with the results.


Finally, after some deep investigating I discovered what was missing: Contemporary recipes for the onion sauce usually use oil or butter or both, but the traditional recipe originally called for lard.


High-quality lard is not as easy to find as one would think, and even if it were obtainable, it's an ingredient most cooks don't feel comfortable with. Instead, I added sweet sausage and got the flavor element the dish was lacking, and more: The sausage turned the dish into a hearty entree.


If you have invited some players with hearty appetites and need to allow for seconds, add more fettuccine. The sauce can be stretched to cover up to two pounds of pasta.


And yes, if you are making this for vegetarians you can leave out the sausage. Just add three tablespoons of chopped fresh oregano to boost the flavor.


For the contorni (Italian side dishes), consider marinated olives, string bean salad, grilled zucchini and eggplant, and white-bean salad.


The cheese and meats can be refreshed as needed. The vegetables are best at room temperature. The pasta sauce can be prepared in advance and kept warm. Only the pasta needs to be cooked at the last minute, and even then everything can be ready to go.


For dessert, go with something sure to please even the most abject loser late in the evening: a plateful of gooey double fudge brownies.



FETTUCCINE WITH SWEET ONIONS AND SAUSAGE


Serves 6 to 8


2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from its casings

2 1/2 pounds sweet onions, such as Maui, Vidalia, Texas 1015 or Oso, thinly sliced

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup dry white wine

1/2 to 1 cup water (optional)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 pound dried fettuccine

Grated Parmesan cheese (optional)



In a large heavy pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the sausage, breaking it up with a spoon into small pieces. Cook, stirring, until the sausage pieces are cooked through and nicely browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the sausage to a medium bowl, keeping as much of the oil and fat in the pot as possible. Drain sausage on paper towels and set aside.


Add the onions and salt and pepper to taste to the pot over medium heat. Stir so that the onions are coated with the oil. Add the white wine, stirring to scrape up any browned bits sticking to the pot. Reduce the heat to low, cover and let the onions cook for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. The mixture should look slightly soupy. If the onions become dry, reduce the heat further and add 1/2 to 1 cup water as needed. The onions should be braising, not browning.


After 1 hour, uncover the pot and increase the heat to medium. Add the butter, stirring, and let the liquid reduce until the onions are still moist but not soupy, about 10 minutes.


Add the cooked sausage, reduce the heat to low and allow the sausage to heat through, 6 to 8 minutes. (At this point, the sauce can be kept warm for up to an hour.) Stir in the chopped parsley.


When ready to serve, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat and cook the fettuccine according to the package directions. Drain the fettuccine and transfer to a large, shallow serving bowl. Add the onion-sausage sauce and stir to combine. Serve hot with Parmesan cheese alongside, if desired.


Nutritional analysis per serving, based on 8: 431 calories, 12 grams fat, 4 grams saturated fat, 58 grams carbohydrates, 18 grams protein, 25 milligrams cholesterol, 365 milligrams sodium, 3 grams dietary fiber, 25 percent calories from fat.

News Added: 28 April, 2006

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