Sausage ragù with tagliatelle
- Prepare
- 30 mins to 1 hour
- Cook
- 30 mins to 1 hour
- Serve
- Serves 4
- Dietary
- Nut-free
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
- 50g/1¾oz 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.
