Home  Rigatoni with fennel sausage sauce
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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
 
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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.