SAUSAGE PASTA
My Mum made me this pasta when I was maybe 10 or 11 and I have been obsessed with ever since. I think it was the first “adult” dish I ever liked yes I know this isn’t ground breaking but finally a deli had opened up on the Gold Coast and she could find sausages that were not only beef, destined for a slice of bread accompanied with some tomato sauce. It is a recipe I have made on dates or when work friends kick on to my house after Friday night work drinks. It is the ultimate Sunday night feast as its zesty richness hugs you, cheering you on for the week ahead. A close friend of mine moved to London in 2019 and she will message me from time to time to tell me she has made it when she feels homesick.
This recipe has grown and changed with me during my 20’s with extra butter here or a little bit of stock there. It is the recipe that I get make for my allergy friends because it doesn’t use garlic, onion or with gluten free pasta. I’ve made countless friends through this recipe and it continues to bind us.
Ingredients
Pork and Fennel Sausages - From the butcher one sausage per person is good
2 lemons
A glass of white wine
100g parmesan
80 grams butter
1/2 Cup fusilli per person (If I was making this for 4-6ppl I would use a kilo)
1tsp fennel seeds
1tbsp oregano
1tsp chilli flakes
1tbsp olive oil
Method
Fill a large pot with water for the pasta and heat on a high heat until it boils
In a fry pan or heavy bottomed pot heat the oil and cut the suasages down their backs peeling off their skins
Add the meat to the hot pan and break up into mince with a wooden spoon. Fry until golden.
Your water should be boiling so now is the time to add the pasta and a very good pinch of salt.
Reduce the heat and in the herbs and spices lightly toasting them for max 30 seconds
Add in the wine, zest of both lemons and juice of one lemon, scraping off all the bits of the bottom
Reduce this by a 1/4 and turn off the heat
While the pasta is boiling grate all the parmesan and add just the butter to the pan allowing it melt with the residual heat.
Once the pasta is cooked reserve a cup of pasta water and drain the pasta
Return the frypan to a low heat and add the pasta and the water to the pan
Stir constantly adding the parmesan little by little until you have a glossy sauce
Serve in a large bowl with a drizzle of the left over lemon