Dance to the Italian Underground -or- Makes You Want to Cook Like a Teenager

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French Bread
Broccoli Salad
Castellane with Sweet Italian Sausage Marinara
LCD Soundsystem- Sound of Silver

Seems like everyone talks about that scene in 'GoodFellas' where all America's mobster character actors are in jail together cooking sauce, what with the slicing garlic with a razor like so many lines of coke and the lengthy monologues. I can't cut garlic or coke like that cuz I got no mob roots.

But I've got that boyish Ray Liotta enthusiasm and naivetie, so why not attempt a pasta sauce. Plus, I have had an italian sausage hankerin going down at a spiritual level for some time now. What choice do I have?

LCD Soundsystem's new album 'Sound of Silver' is what will inform my enthusiasm through this process. I'm hopeful the end result will have me remembering the album the way wide-eyed american teens relate Bon Jovi albums to backseat fumbling sessions.

Cutting up onions, garlic, and orange bell pepper to 'Get Innocuous' and everything is off to a good start. I've already made the mistake of trying to chop the onions with a pairing knife, showing classic 'maybe i'm not ready for this next step' signs. I'm fumbling like the beginning of the song, but soon I'm in my groove, santoku and drum machine pounding rhythmically until into the pot go the vegetables. They sweat over low heat just as I do, glowing translucent by 'North American Scum' and I'm dancing excitedly.

I squeeze the sausage out of the casing because the sausage casing brings me no joy. It browns to the tune of 'Us vs Them' until it wiggles excitedly then it too goes into the pot with the veggies and a can of tomatoes. The Mrs. isn't a big fan of chunky vegetables so I bring out the immersion blender, which clogs under the strain of so many large meaty chunks. Thankfully the music keeps my mood high.

Seasoning takes some finessing, this is the part I won't perfect until many more trials. Salt, sugar, basil, nutmeg, crushed red pepper. Half a cup of Chardonnay. Stir stir stir. Eventually it is out of my hands, time to simmer for a few hours and let the flavors meld. If I did it right the sweet meaty flavor of the sausage will blend with the acid of the tomatoes and the seasonings will balance it all out. If not, I'll sing along to 'New York I Love You' and break up with tomato sauce until I realize I can't stay mad forever and I have no choice but to go back to it.