Rigatoni with fennel sausage sauce
Ingredients
- olive oil – 2½ tbsp
- Italian fennel sausages – 6 cut into 1.5cm-thick slices
- onion – 1 large peeled and chopped
- fennel bulb – 1 trimmed and roughly chopped; reserve any fronds to garnish
- smoky paprika – ½ tsp
- garlic – 1 clove, peeled and sliced
- fennel seeds – 2 tsp lightly toasted and then gently crushed
- red wine – 100ml
- chopped tomatoes – 400g tinned
- caster sugar – ½ tsp
- pitted black olives – 50g cut in half lengthways
- rigatoni – 500g
- pecorino – 30g roughly crumbled into 0.5cm pieces
- anchovy fillet – 1 rinsed and patted dry
- garlic – 1 clove, peeled and crushed
- olive oil – 60ml
- basil leaves – 50g torn
Instructions
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large saute pan for which you have a lid.
- Add the sausage pieces and fry on a medium-high heat for 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until golden-brown all over.
- Transfer the sausages to a plate, then add the onion and fennel to the hot pan and fry for 15 minutes, stirring once in a while, until soft and caramelised; if the pan goes a bit dry, add a teaspoon or so of extra oil.
- Stir in the paprika, garlic and half the fennel seeds, fry for two minutes more, then pour on the wine and boil for 30 seconds, to reduce by half.
- Add the tomatoes, sugar, 100ml water, the seared sausage and half a teaspoon of salt, cover and simmer for 30 minutes; remove the lid after 10 minutes, and cook until the sauce is thick and rich.
- Remove from the heat, stir through the olives and remaining fennel seeds and set aside until you’re ready to serve.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 12-14 minutes (or according to the instructions on the packet), until al dente.
- Meanwhile, reheat the sauce.
- Drain the pasta, return it to the pot, stir in a tablespoon of oil, then divide between the bowls.
- Put all the pesto ingredients except the basil in the small bowl of a food processor.
- Add a tablespoon of water and blitz to a rough paste.
- Add the basil, then blitz until just combined (the pesto has a much better texture if the basil is not overblended).
- Spoon over the ragù and top with a spoonful of pesto.
- Finish with a sprinkling of chopped fennel fronds, if you have any, and serve at once.
Web Story: https://foodmaniahub.com/webstories/rigatoni-with-fennel-sausage-sauce.html
