This is a winter favourite, it warms you from the marrow of your bones to the skin on your cheeks; it’s satisfying, perfectly flavoured and dreadfully moreish. And, I made this version up myself!
This recipe is for four servings, but two hungry people can polish the lot off without too much difficulty, believe me, it happens every time I make it!
You can buy Italian fennel sausages, but they are nigh on impossible to track down in England, if you can't, then buy good quality pork sausages and follow the instructions below to make your own fennel sausage meatballs.
Ingredients:
1 bulb of fennel
500g bag of rigatoni
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
8 pork and fennel sausages
8 pork and fennel sausages
(or pack of 8 good pork sausages and another bulb of fennel)
a bunch of fresh basil
2 bay leaves
a teaspoon of chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
2 cloves of garlic
1 medium sized onion, chopped finely
1 or 2 125g balls of buffalo mozzerella
salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon of fennel seeds
½ glass of Italian red wine
If you have bought ready made fennel sausages you can skip this first step.
First of all slice the root end off one of the bulbs of fennel, and grate it quite coarsely into a large bowl, add the teaspoon of fennel seeds and get ready for the gooey bit!
First of all slice the root end off one of the bulbs of fennel, and grate it quite coarsely into a large bowl, add the teaspoon of fennel seeds and get ready for the gooey bit!
Take a sausage and slide the blade of a knife down the length of it, slitting the skin, remove the skin, as you’d remove a cardigan and drop the sausage into the grated fennel; repeat with the rest of the sausages. Now get stuck into the mixture and squeeze, and squelch it with your hands until the fennel, sausage meat and seeds are well mixed. Form meatballs from this mixture.
Add the olive oil to a large frying pan on a medium heat, and cut your sausages into 2cm long pieces. Place each piece of sausage (or meatball) into the hot oil and let them sizzle away, turning occasionally; they should be a golden brown colour all over. When your sausages have reached the golden brown stage remove them from the pan and place them on some kitchen paper to drain.
Use the oil and juices left in the pan to soften your garlic, chopped onion and the bulb of fennel, finely chopped. After about five minutes, add the chopped tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, bay leaves, half of the basil (finely chopped), oregano and wine to the frying pan. Season the sauce with salt and ground black pepper, and let it bubble away for a about 5 minutes, while you boil a large pan of quite heavily salted water.
At this point preheat your oven to 200˚C. When boiled, add all the pasta to the pan of water and leave to cook, then return the sausages to the frying pan and give them a quick stir so that they settle into the rich tomato sauce.
When the pasta is cooked, drain and pour it into a large gratin or lasagne dish, add the sausages and sauce to the dish and mix well. Tear the mozzarella cheese into small pieces and distribute evenly over the pasta. Finally, chop the remaining basil leaves and sprinkle them over the mozzerella, finish with black pepper and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the mozzerella is bubbling and golden.
Serve with garlic bread and red wine. I guarantee that you’ll be hooked!
