Crispy Orecchiette With Spicy Sausage & Collard Ragù

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. A big handful of salt, please. Salt it like it owes you money.
2. Thinly slice the shallots.
3. Strip the collard leaves off their stems and slice them crosswise into 1-inch-wide strips. Toss the stems.
4. Cook the orecchiette in the boiling water until al dente, according to the package. Before draining, scoop out a few cups of pasta water; you'll need a lot to cook down the greens. Drizzle the drained pasta lightly with olive oil so it doesn't clump while it waits.
5. Meanwhile, heat several tablespoons of olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high. Once it's very hot, add the sausage, breaking it into golf ball-size chunks as it goes in. Cook, undisturbed, until well browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip with tongs and brown the other side, 1 to 2 minutes. Move to a plate. Undisturbed means hands in pockets. The browning is the flavor.
6. Turn the heat to medium-low and add the shallots with a big pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often, until jammy and cooked down, 4 minutes.
7. Stir in the tomato paste and 4 tablespoons Calabrian chiles (hold some back if you're spice-shy) until the shallots are coated. Keep cooking and stirring until the tomato paste starts to stick to the pot, 4 to 5 minutes.
8. Add the collards and a few big splashes of pasta water to steam them down. Stir, cover and cook until the greens are tender, 4 to 5 minutes. Taste one; you'll know. Add more pasta water if the pot gets dry. You want it saucy. Take it off the heat and keep it covered.
9. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high. Add about half the pasta and cook, undisturbed, until golden and crisp at the edges underneath, 3 to 4 minutes. Tip it into the ragù and repeat with the rest. Some will stick together in little rafts. Those are the best ones.
10. Put the pot back over medium heat. Return the sausage, breaking it into smaller pieces, with a big splash of pasta water and a few big handfuls of Parm. Stir hard until a thick sauce coats the pasta, about 30 seconds.
11. Squeeze in the juice of 1 lemon and stir.
12. Divide among bowls. If you're using burrata, tear it into small pieces and tuck a few into each bowl. Finish with more olive oil and more Parm.