30 mins
Not Too Tricky
serves 6
About the recipe
A simply tasty pasta combining sausage, chilli and fennel – everything Jools was craving when she was pregnant with Buddy – a firm favourite in the Oliver household.
Ingredients
4 spring onions
1 carrot
1 stick of celery
1–2 fresh red chillies
6 higher-welfare sausages (approx. 400g)
1 heaped teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon dried oregano
olive oil
500g dried penne
4 cloves of garlic
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
Parmesan cheese, for shaving over
a few sprigs of Greek basil, or regular basil
Method
- Trim the spring onions, carrot and celery. Roughly chop all the vegetables, then blitz in the food processor with the chillies (stalks removed). Add the sausages, fennel seeds and oregano. Keep pulsing until well mixed, then spoon this mixture into a large frying pan on a high heat with a lug of olive oil, breaking it up and stirring as you go. Keep checking on it and stirring while you get on with other jobs.
- Fill a large deep saucepan with boiling water. Season well then add the penne and cook according to packet instructions, with the lid askew.
- Crush the unpeeled cloves of garlic into the sausage mixture and stir in the balsamic vinegar and the tinned tomatoes. Add a little of the starchy cooking water from the pasta to loosen if needed.
- Drain the pasta, reserving about a wineglass worth of the cooking water. Tip the pasta into the pan of sauce and give it a gentle stir, adding enough of the cooking water to bring it to a silky consistency. Taste, correct the seasoning, then tip into a large serving bowl and take straight to the table with the Parmesan for grating over. Scatter over a few basil leaves.
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