Penne with slow-cooked sausage sauce

Right now, as I write this, my home is filled with the aroma of something cooking…a recipe I absolutely love. I’m at home alone this evening and decided to indulge myself in a delicious Sophie Dahl’esque manner (topical eh?)

*Pouts at camera, assumes vacant, innocent doe-eyed, yet slightly naughty expression*

And what a treat it is. A dish liberally filled with sausage, Parmesan and double cream – it doesn’t get much richer. For some strange reason this afternoon, I suddenly thought of this recipe in particular. It popped into my head and I knew straight away, I had to cook it.

Right then and there…. I swiftly checked the recipe, wrote a short shopping list…. pulled on my trainers and walked determinedly off to the local shops to get the ingredients I needed. A lightning visit to the local butcher and greengrocer, and back I hurried, urgently swinging a carrier bag filled with ingredients.

The interesting thing is, at least; to me, is that I’m writing this post as I actually cook it…. which is something of a first on this blog.
It’s gently simmering away, out there in the kitchen, throwing out a rich scent of bubbling wine, onion, garlic and sausage meat…I’m in here in my, for want of a better word ‘study’…typing away and trying to judge correctly when to hurry back to give the pot a good stir so it doesn’t stick…nothing else to do for 45 minutes. The plan is – to get this written up, take photos, and have the post up and being read by you, whilst I lean back, belching lazily, patting my now full belly and swigging on a well earned, ice cold Peroni.

Its from the River Café cook book; and in Italian is Penne con Sugo di Salsiccie, or Penne with slow-cooked sausage sauce.

Here’s the recipe: -

Penne con Sugo di Salsiccie

Serves 6

You’ll Need: -

TBS Olive Oil
6-8 Italian spiced fresh pork sausages, meat removed from skins and crumbled (if you can’t get them easily – just use good quality pork sausages).
2 small red onions peeled and chopped.
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped.
2 small dried chillies, crumbled.
2 bay leaves
1/3 Bottle Red wine (preferably Chianti or Sangiovese)
2x 400g tines peeled plum tomatoes, drained.
½ nutmeg. Freshly grated
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
120g Parmesan, freshly grated
150ml Double Cream
250g Penne Rigate

Heat the oil in a large pan, and fry the sausage meat, stirring and breaking up the pieces. After the juice from the meat has evaporated and the fat begins to run, add the onion, garlic, chilli and bay leaves. Cook gently for almost 30 mins until the onions are brown. Pour in the wine, increase the heat and cook until the wine evaporates. Now add the tomatoes, lower the heat, and simmer gently until you have a thick sauce, about 45-60 minutes. Season with nutmeg and salt (and pepper, if the sausages were not spicy), and add the Parmesan and cream.
Cook the penne in a generous amount of boiling salted water, and then drain well. Add the pasta to the sauce, combine and serve.



Utterly superb, and whilst I’m talking about incredible, slow cooked, unctuous, rich Italian pasta dishes, I tried this recipe earlier in the week by The Graphic Foodie, Red Pasta sauce with Pork. It’s an Italian family recipe, her Mothers in fact, and it’s without a doubt one of the best things I’ve cooked in ages. Incredibly good and rich, I suspect I’ll crave it sometime soon like I craved the recipe above. I urge you to give it a try, you won’t believe how good it is.

I’ve finished just in time, I’m being distracted by the urgent ‘beeping’ of the timer from the kitchen; dinner is more or less, done. I'll quickly take pictures, (eternal curse of the food blogger – cold dinner)…. eat my food – and get this post up. Enjoy.