Rigatoni with fennel sausage sauce — a rich Italian ragù of Italian sausage and fennel with olives, tossed through rigatoni and finished with a fresh basil pecorino pesto.
- 6 cut into 1.5cm-thick slices Italian Fennel Sausages
- 1 large peeled and chopped Onion
- 1 trimmed and roughly chopped; reserve any fronds to garnish Fennel Bulb
- ½ tsp Smoky Paprika
- 2 tsp lightly toasted and then gently crushed Fennel Seeds
- 100ml Red Wine
- 400g tinned Chopped Tomatoes
- ½ tsp Caster Sugar
- 50g cut in half lengthways Pitted Black Olives
- 500g Rigatoni
- 30g roughly crumbled into 0.5cm pieces Pecorino
- 1 rinsed and patted dry Anchovy Fillet
- 1 clove, peeled and crushed Garlic
- 60ml Olive Oil
- 50g torn Basil Leaves
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Preparation
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large lidded sauté pan. Add the sausage pieces and fry over medium-high heat for 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until golden-brown all over, then transfer to a plate. Add the onion and fennel to the hot pan and fry for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and caramelised, adding a little extra oil if the pan goes dry. Stir in the paprika, garlic and half the fennel seeds and fry for two minutes more, then pour in 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 — removing the lid after 10 minutes — until the sauce is thick and rich. Off the heat, stir through the olives and remaining fennel seeds and set aside.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, add the pasta, and cook for 12–14 minutes (or per the packet), until al dente. Meanwhile, reheat the sauce. Drain the pasta, return to the pot, stir in a tablespoon of oil, then divide between bowls.
- For the pesto, put all the ingredients except the basil in the small bowl of a food processor with a tablespoon of water and blitz to a rough paste, then add the basil and blitz until just combined (it's better not overblended).
- Spoon the ragù over the pasta and top with a spoonful of pesto. Finish with a sprinkling of chopped fennel fronds, if you have any, and serve at once.
