This weekend, I made a batch of cotechino, a sweet, mild Italian pork sausage that the Earle used to serve in puff pastry as Cotechino in Crosta. I've been meaning to try my hand at it for a while, but only recently assembled the ingredients. So ... fine, I've got some sausage to serve. What I really wanted to go with it was an earthy starch dish, redolent of damp, early-Spring woods and gradually resurgent nature. It's not all that often that I suit myself quite as successfully as I did with this three-P risotto - Porcini, Parmesan, and Peas. Drank a 2005 Barbaresco with it and marveled at my ability to very occasionally achieve what I set out to do.
