While I've been racking my brain all week to come up with the perfect pasta dish for Presto Pasta Night's big birthday bash tomorrow. You'd think I'd come up with a totally new dish, but nooooooooooo. The universe unfolded, the stars aligned and I had to make this oldie but goodie.
Lazy Bones Marinara with Merguez Sausage
The first star actually happened back in December on a visit to my daughter in Montreal. We went to the Jean Talon Market... an old haunt of mine when I lived in Montreal and had merguez sausages on a bun. There's nothing like Montreal merguez - lamb sausages seasoned with harisa and cayenne. I'm sure that it has a lot to do with the Tunisians and Moroccans and other North Africans that make Montreal their home. And, although I found merguez in Toronto... it was not the same.
The second star erupted on my latest trip to the Halifax Farmers Market and a stop at Sweet Williams Sausages for my weekly fix of smoked turkey and turkey fennel sausages where I spotted these gorgeous coils of merguez. They're not as red as the ones you find everywhere in Montreal - probably no Harisa to spice it up, but I bought them anyway.
The third star shot out when I was wandering through some old posts and found one I wrote way back back in 2005 - even before Presto Pasta Night was on my radar.... 2 years earlier in fact, when I was just a baby blogger.
How could I resist... the merguez was lovely - different to the one I craved, but lovely anyway. I've since found a couple of Tunisian recipes that I might try... if I ever get the urge to actually make my own sausages. My daughter thinks it's a great plan, so who knows.
What will you be making for Presto Pasta Night's big party? You still have time to join in the fun. I'll be accepting entries until midnight. Just email your link (or your recipe if you don't have a blog of your own) to ruth (at) 4everykitchen (dot) com. Whatever you decide, come back tomorrow to check out a great selection of pastas and see who the lucky winners are. I'm giving away presents!
4 comments:
Hi Ruth... i am making something special! well, any pasta dish is special to me.. i will send you my entry by tonight. Sorry for the delay.
Hi Ruth - it has been a looong time since I participated in Presto Pasta (first, I discovered I had gluten-intolerance, so I was still making brown rice pasta, but then I discovered I do a lot better without too many grains), but I still read posts related to it often and wanted to say Happy 2 Years on Presto Pasta!
I love the flavors in the sausage. We get a very poor selection of sausages in South Africa and so I am going to add this to my list of ones to try and make :)
I was just telling my granddaughter that I really don't care much for sausages, but then I haven't tried Montreal merguez - lamb sausages! They might change my mind. But, as the last commenter said, we get a poor selection here and it might be I should try making my own. Just got Ruhlman's Charcuterie book too.
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