Dinner/ Italian recipes/ Pasta/ Pork/ Vegetables

Fennel & Pork Sausage Ragù

2 August 2023

With so much amazing fennel available at the moment I need more fennel recipes. Slow cooked with tomatoes, fennel seeds, anchovis, onions, garlic and pork sausage, this dish is so full f flavour you I kept going back for more!

Fennel & Pork Sausage Ragù

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Dinner Italian
By Saffron Serves: 4
Prep Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 40 - 45 minutes Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 pork sausages, skins removed
  • 2 fennel, thinly sliced, fronds set aside
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 2-3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1 tbsp fennel seeds
  • 3-4 anchovies filets
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 canned whole tomatoes
  • ± 100 ml red wine (or water) for deglazing
  • Pinch chili flakes
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • Pepper & salt
  • Pasta of choice, like spaghetti, tagliatelle or rigatoni, ± 80 g per person
  • Fennel fronds, roughly chopped

Instructions

1

Heat the olive oil in a heavy based pan and add the pork sausages. Break them down into smaller pieces with a spatula, and sauté for 2-3 minutes until starting to brown. Remove from the pan and set aside, they don't ned to be cooked through, they will continue to cook in the sauce later.

2

To the same pan add a small drop of olive oil if needed and add the onions and garlic and a pinch of salt.

3

Sauté for 1-2 minutes until translucent and fragrant.

4

Add the thinly sliced fennel and the fennel seeds and mix well so everything is coated.

5

Sauté for 2-3 minutes on medium heat then add the anchovies, don't worry they will dissolve into the sauce, no need to chop them.

6

Turn the heat down and sauté on low heat for ± 8 minutes, stirring now and then, making sure it doesn't burn but caramelises (if it's going to fast add a drop of water).

7

Add the tomato paste and mix well to coat everything, let it sauté for another 2 minutes.

8

Turn up the heat and add the wine (or water) to deglaze the pan, making sure you scrape all the goodness from the bottom of the pan with a spatula.

9

Pour in the canned tomatoes, a can of water, a teaspoon of sugar and a pinch of chili flakes. Bring to a simmer.

10

Add the sausage meat back to the sauce, together with their resting juices and let the sauce bubble away on low-medium heat for ± 15 minutes until the sauce has thickened a bit.

11

Taste and season with pepper and salt if needed.

12

Cook the pasta according to the packaging, cooking it 1 minute less than recommended.

13

Drain the pasta, setting some of the pasta water aside.

14

Add the pasta to the sauce and a tablespoon of the pasta water and stir vigorously, this will make the sauce emulsify. Add more pasta water if you'd like a wetter sauce.

15

Serve with some fresh fennel fronds and a drizzle of olive oil over the top.

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