RecipeTin Eats’ sausage ragu

Name: RecipeTin Eats’ sausage ragu
Cook time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 4-6
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 small onion, finely chopped; 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 1 carrot, finely diced; 1 celery stalk, finely diced; 1 tsp fennel seeds; 350g pork sausages, meat removed from casings; 350g beef sausages, meat removed from casings; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 250ml (1 cup) pinot noir (substitute zero-alcohol red wine or more chicken stock); 250ml (1 cup) salt-reduced chicken stock; 400g can crushed tomato; 3 thyme sprigs; 2 bay leaves (preferably fresh); ¾ tsp cooking salt; ½ tsp black pepper; ¼ tsp chilli flakes

Nagi Maehashi

July 31, 2023

Serve this sausage ragu with pappardelle.Rob Palmer; Styling Emma Knowles

Time:2 hours +Serves:4-6

What do you mean, you never thought to make a ragu using sausages? The sausage meat gives the sauce a deeper flavour than you’d get by using simple mince meat. Thick ribbons of pappardelle are the perfect vehicle for this rich ragu, but if you don’t have it, use any pasta you prefer.

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely diced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
1 tsp fennel seeds
350g pork sausages, meat removed from casings
350g beef sausages, meat removed from casings
2 tbsp tomato paste
250ml (1 cup) pinot noir (substitute zero-alcohol red wine or more chicken stock)
250ml (1 cup) salt-reduced chicken stock
400g can crushed tomato
3 thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves (preferably fresh)
¾ tsp cooking salt
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp chilli flakes

To serve

375g dried pappardelle
grated parmesan to serve

Method

Step 1
Preheat oven to 160C fan-forced (180C conventional).
Step 2
Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy-based lidded saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion, garlic, carrot, celery and fennel seeds for 5 minutes until softened and sweet, but not golden.
Step 3
Turn the heat up to high, add the sausage meat and cook, breaking it up as you go as best you can (we will make it finer later using a potato masher).
Step 4
Once all the meat has been browned, add the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.
Step 5
Add the red wine and cook, stirring regularly, until reduced in volume by half.
Step 6
Add the remaining ingredients (excluding pappardelle), stir and bring to a simmer. Put the lid on the pot and transfer to the oven for 1 hour.
Step 7
Remove from the oven and use a potato masher to break up the chunks of meat. Put the lid back on, and return to the oven for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir. The sauce should be quite thick (we’ll loosen it later with pasta water).
Step 8
Cook the pappardelle according to the packet instructions. Just before draining, scoop out 1½ cups of the cooking water and set it aside. Return the ragu pot to the heat, and add the drained pasta and about ½ cup of the pasta cooking water (or more, if required) to the sauce. Toss for 1 to 2 minutes or until the pasta is stained red and the sauce is clinging to the pasta. Serve with grated parmesan.