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Spiced lamb sausage recipe

During a recent interview, the subject turned to chocolate, specifically this cocoa nib sausage, which I use to top the pizza dough recipe from The Great Book of Chocolate, which has a bit of chocolate added to it.

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There are many cultures that use chocolate in savory dishes, whose origins go back hundreds and in some cases, thousands of years, including Mole. In France, it’s not uncommon for many cooks to sneak a bit of grated a chocolate into their Coq au Vin. So why not in pizza?

Spiced lamb sausage recipe

My good friend Joanne Weir, who I cooked with at Chez Panisse, came over the other day to make pizza. And we made this sausage, which is easily put together in a skillet, and is a great topping for pizza. The gentle spices give the pizza a slightly elusive touch, and the meaty lamb is a good match with the little crunchy pine nuts. If you don’t have my chocolate book, you can use the pizza dough recipe here, which can be divided in two to make two pizzas.

Cocoa Nib and Spiced Lamb Sausage Pizza

You can use this sausage to top any recipe for your favorite pizza dough if you’d like. My recipe is here, which can be divided in two, to make two pizzas. 1 recipe for Chocolate Pizza Dough, rolled out onto baking sheets
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1/2 pound ground lamb
  • 1/2 cup peeled, seeded, and chopped canned plum tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste or harissa
  • 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 3 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
  • large pinch each cinnamon, allspice and cloves
  • 1/8 teaspoons red pepper or chili flakes
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup roasted cocoa nibs
  • 4 ounces fontina cheese, grated
  • 2 ounces mozzarella cheese, grated
  • In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons olive oil and the minced garlic. Set aside.
  • Heat remaining olive oil in a skillet and cook the onions until soft and translucent. Add the lamb, tomatoes, tomato paste (or harissa), parsley, pine nuts, spices, and season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Cook slowly for 10 minutes (uncovered).
  • Remove from heat and add a squeeze or two of fresh lemon juice and let cool to room temperature. Once cooled, stir in the cocoa nibs.

Notes

To make the pizzas: Brush top of pizza dough with garlic-infused olive oil. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the dough then spread the sausage over the cheeses. Finally top with the remaining cheese and bake the pizza in a very hot oven until the cheese is bubbling and deep-golden brown.

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12 comments

    • cookiecrumb

    Yes, but mother only kept unsweetened Baker’s in the house *so we wouldn’t eat it*! :D
    This recipe is outrageously amazing.

    • carolg

    Ah heck we’ll have to wait to actually hear you ar KCRW. It’s so amazing to me that those hard dark beans turn into luscious chocolate. They were passing them out at the NYC Chocolate show & some are still floating in my purse, but they seem more like pebbles than something I would kill for…

    • David

    The Good Food interview should be available on their website shortly (which I’ve linked to) available as a download or podcast. KCRW also has a program called ‘Chocolate City’…which I wanted to be a guest on as well, until I found out that it has nothing to do with chocolate…it’s about jazz!

    • Ivonne

    David,

    I have your book and (slap my hand) have yet to try that recipe. I bought some cocoa nibs in San Francisco this past summer … perhaps this is the sign that I should remedy my over-indulgence during the holidays with healthy cocoa nibs now.

    Why doesn’t that sound right???

    • Brett

    What a mouthwatering recipe! I get a kick out of how you manage to put chocolate in absolutely everything. I missed your radio show…hopefully it will appear in their archives.

    • Jessica “Su Good Eats”

    I love white NY pizza with Nutella on top. :-)

    • David

    Jessica: You’ve been hanging out with Adam, I can tell!

    • Andrea Lin

    David, you list two online sources for cocoa nibs, and I’ve also found a place called Nature’s First Law, which sells tons of organic and raw foods in bulk.

    Is there a nib retailer that you think is THE BEST? I value your advice on the place to buy vanilla, so would love to hear the same for cocoa. Thanks!

    • David

    Hi Andrea:
    Here in France, the only nibs that are available are those from, gulp, Valhrona. As readers of Mort Rosenblum’s book know, I’ve had quite an encounter with the reps from that company, but am ‘almost’ over it.

    Well, almost…

    You can order Valhrona nibs from Chocosphere (on my Links page); they sell them by the kilo (2.2#). I do like the ScharffenBerger nibs but have not yet tried the Dagoba ones. Since I really like Dagoba chocolate, I assume their nibs are excellent as well.

    • Jessica “Su Good Eats”

    I suppose you believe Adam’s story because I’m infamous for snatching freebies. :-( BTW, why are cocoa nibs more expensive than chocolate? It takes less work to “make” them, since there’s no added cocoa butter or conching.

    • MM

    I’ve always been too afraid to comment here as I am so in awe of you. I used to go to this brilliant little pizza place and one day the Colombian chef was trying out a new pizza. I happened to be sitting near the oven watching her and she asked me to try it. It was a banana and chocolate pizza she just created. After she saw my expression of total bliss, she added it to the menu. I loved that you included a chocolate pizza. Again, you prove you are my Chocolate god!

    • Molly

    Holy, holy, holy. Between my twin loves for sausage and chocolate, this recipe is absolutely screaming for my kitchen. Thank you, David!

A

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