Best of 2011: Runners-Up for Ricotta and Sausage

Eating our way through the city to determine the best of the best is no easy task. The hard thing about naming something the "best" is that we had to leave behind many very, very good dishes. So to honor those wayward souls, here are some great plates worthy of mention. Today: Ricotta and Sausage.

Add sausage to anything and it's probably going to taste delicious. That was definitely the case for Osteria Morini's sausage-laden polenta: gut-busting comfort bar none. Some of our other favorite sausage dishes sampled this year? The merguez sandwich at Balaboosta makes for a fine, hearty lunch, as does the Lyon hot dog at Lyon. If you need something on the go, check out Sausage Inc., which has surprisingly good sausages despite crap décor. We chomped on delectable saucisson sec at Buvette. Rubirosa topped its pizza with sausage and broccoli rabe for yummy results, and we ate salami on our slices at Best Pizza and had nubs of chorizo in the rosejat rapida at Salinas. Yes, sausage makes the world go round.

And, really, what goes better with sausage than ricotta? We had many a fine ricotta dish this year. Locanda Verde's offering of the whipped cheese, served alongside chewy toasted bread, never fails to impress. We also had a great baked ricotta at the Cannibal, where it was dressed with stewed peaches and akin to eating dessert for dinner. We became addicted to Birdbath's ricotta and caramel tartines for breakfast. Also warming was the Queens Kickshaw's manchego and ricotta grilled cheese sandwich, and the new Frankies 570 had a mighty tasty ricotta and sausage fiorini pasta, proving that, without a doubt, sausage and ricotta make excellent bedfellows.

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