Sarah Millican's Tuscan sausage & tomato pasta

Sarah Millican's Tuscan sausage & tomato pasta

Fennel, chilli, oregano & basil

Fennel, chilli, oregano & basil

Serves 4

Cooks In50 minutes

DifficultyNot too tricky

Nutrition per serving

• Calories 591 30%

• Fat 22g 31%

• Saturates 6.9g 35%

• Sugars 18.2g 20%

• Salt 0.6g 10%

• Protein 26.3g 53%

• Carbs 76.6g 29%

• Fibre 5.7g -

Of an adult's reference intake

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 stick of celery
• 1 bunch of fresh basil , (30g)
• olive oil
• 4 quality Italian sausages , (250g in total)
• 1 heaped teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano , ideally the flowering kind
• 1 pinch of dried chilli flakes
• 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 x 400 g tins of quality plum tomatoes
• 300 g dried penne
• 40 g Parmesan cheese , plus extra to serve
• extra virgin olive oil

recipe adapted from

Jamie's Friday Night Feast Cookbook

By Jamie Oliver

Method

1. Peel the onion, carrot and celery, then finely chop with the basil stalks (reserving the leaves).
2. Place a large pan on a medium-high heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then squeeze the sausagemeat out of the skins into the pan, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as you go. Fry for a few minutes, then add the fennel seeds, oregano and chilli flakes, and strip in the rosemary.
3. Stir in the chopped veg and basil stalks, then peel and finely grate in the garlic. Cook for 10 minutes, or until softened, stirring occasionally.
4. Pour the balsamic into the pan and leave to bubble away and reduce slightly. Scrunch in the tomatoes through your clean hands, then add 1 tin’s worth of water and the larger basil leaves. Bring to the boil, then simmer over a low heat for 20 minutes, or until thickened.
5. With around 10 minutes to go, cook the pasta in a pan of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions, then drain, reserving a mugful of cooking water.
6. Toss the drained pasta into the sausage pan, loosening with a little reserved cooking water, if needed. Taste and season to perfection with sea salt and black pepper, then remove from the heat.
7. Finely grate in the Parmesan, scatter over the remaining basil leaves, and finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Delicious served with pinches of lemony rocket and an extra grating of Parmesan.