Sausage ragù with tagliatelle
Using sausage meat reduces the cooking time for this traditional dish, but the white wine and cream make sure nothing is lacking in flavour. You don’t need a pasta machine to make your own tagliatelle – if you don’t have one, give it a go with a rolling pin.
Ingredients
For the pasta dough
For the ragù
- 400g/14oz good quality coarse pork sausage meat
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 2 sticks celery, chopped
- ¾ tsp fennel seeds, roughly ground in a pestle and mortar
- 1 sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves finely chopped
- ¼ tsp chilli flakes
- 1 large garlic clove, grated
- 150ml/5fl oz dry white wine
- 150ml/5fl oz double cream
- 150ml/5fl oz chicken stock
- 50²µ/1¾´Ç³ú Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
To make the pasta, in a food processor, combine the flour, eggs and salt, then tip onto a work surface and bring together in a ball of dough, cover in cling film and rest for 20-30 minutes.
Ideally with a pasta machine or a rolling pin, roll out the pasta into a couple of thin sheets (about 2mm thick). Run through a pasta machine to make tagliatelle, or using a knife or pizza cutter, cut into 5mm wide ribbons. Separate the strands and leave to dry on the back of a chair or spread out on a tray.
Break up the sausage meat into a large lidded pan with a little olive oil, depending on how fatty the sausage meat is, as it may render quite a bit of fat. Cook on a medium heat for around 10 minutes stirring from time to time. Add the onion, celery, fennel seeds, rosemary, chilli and garlic then cook for a further 15 minutes. Pour in the wine and cook until reduced in volume by half, then add the cream and chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper then put a lid on the pan and simmer gently for half an hour.
When ready to serve, cook the tagliatelle in plenty of salted water for about 4 minutes until al dente, drain and add to the ragù pan and mix in. Serve in warmed bowls with freshly grated Parmesan.
