Jamie's Friday Night Feast Cookbook
By Jamie Oliver
Sarah Millican's Tuscan sausage & tomato pasta
Fennel, chilli, oregano & basil
50 mins
Not Too Tricky
serves 4
About the recipe
Using best-quality sausages and tomatoes gives this from-scratch version of Sarah’s favourite comfort food a real smack of flavour. Finish with freshly grated Parmesan and fresh basil, it's a real step up from the microwave meals Sarah's used to.
Recipe From
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 400g tins of quality plum tomatoes
300g dried penne
40g Parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve
extra virgin olive oil
Method
- Peel the onion, carrot and celery, then finely chop with the basil stalks (reserving the leaves).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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