Sausage Pasta

This weekend, I will be sharing two recipes that I had adapted from Jamie Oliver?s cookbooks. The first recipe is an easy Sausage Pasta. The star of this dish is obviously the sausage. So, just get your favorite Italian sausages and make sure they are the best quality available.


Recipe adapted from Cook with Jamie

Sausage Pasta
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients

2 Tbsp Fennel Seeds
2 Dried Red Chilies, crumbled
Olive Oil
600g/1 lb 6 oz Good Quality Coarse Italian Sausages
1 Tbsp Dried Oregano
A wineglass of White Wine
Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon
500g/1 lb 2 oz Good Quality Fusilli or Tortiglioni
Sea Salt to taste
Some Freshly Ground Black Pepper
A couple of knobs of Butter
A handful of freshly grated Parmesan Cheese, plus extra for serving
A small bunch of Fresh Flat-Leaf Parsley, leaves picked and chopped

Method

Bash up the fennel seeds and chilies in a pestle and mortar. Heat a splash of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan. Squeeze the meat out of the sausage skins and put into the pan, really breaking it up using the back of a spoon. Fry for a few minutes until the meat starts to color and the fat has rendered slightly, then crush it once more so it resembles coarse mince.

Add the bashed-up fennel seeds and chilies and cook on a medium heat for around 10 minutes until the meat becomes crisp, golden brown and slightly caramelized.

Stir in the oregano, then pour in the white wine and allow it to reduce by half. Add the lemon zest and juice. Turn the heat down to low while you cook your pasta in a large pan of salted boiling water according to the packet instructions. When the pasta has cooked al dente, drain it in a colander, reserving some of the cooking water, and toss it in the pan with your sausage meat.

Coat the pasta in all the lovely flavors then add the butter, Parmesan, chopped parsley and a few spoonfuls of the reserved cooking water. This will give you a lovely loose, shiny sauce. Taste and check for seasoning, then serve immediately with a little extra grated Parmesan sprinkled over the top.

Serves 4.