Erica Drum is back in the Six Kitchen tonight and she will be cooking the perfect mid-week dish - a scrumptious Sausage and Fennel Rigatoni!
- 1 fennel bulb or white onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
- 300g uncooked rigatoni (or any pasta of choice)
- 300g sausage meat or sausages, Italian style is best here
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 1 shot of vodka or sambuca(optional)
- 1x400ml passata or a tin of chopped tomatoes.
- 150g mascarpone/cream cheese (100ml cream works too)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Parmesan and small bunch of parsley to garnish
Place a large saucepot over a hot heat and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Fry the sliced fennel for 5 minutes, until it is slightly soft and translucent.
Now add in the garlic and fennel seeds and fry for a further 2 minutes. At this stage, I put on my pot salty water and bring it to the boil to cook my pasta.
Next, add your sausage meat or sliced sausage (or a mix of both) to the fennel mixture. Fry for at least ten minutes, breaking it up with your wooden spoon as you stir. Season with some salt & pepper.
Pour in your passata and two sprigs of rosemary, I tie it up with an elastic band so it is easier to fish out later.
Let the passata bubble away for a few minutes and then add your mascarpone.
Fold that through. Drain your pasta and add it straight into your saucepot. Stir well, taste for seasoning.
Serve with some garlic bread, a touch of parsley and lashings of parmesan cheese.
