Soprano Sausage Pasta with Fennel Seeds

I love fennel.  I know aniseed flavours aren't everyone's cup of tea, but when I first used fennel bulbs in a similar recipe as a substitute for onions,  I found that the flavours complimented the tomatoes so well and gave them a distinct level of character, in the same way that anchovies and olives do in a puttanesca sauce.

Some things just go well with tomatoes, and fennel is one of them.  Here's a way you can still get that enticing, fresh flavour just using fennel seeds.

The ninja knows best.  Let us begin.

This recipe is dedicated to James Gandolfini.  RIP Tony Soprano.

Serves: 4 (or 6-8 if used traditionally as a primo pasta course)

Preparation time 5 minutes: (or instantly if you are a ninja)

Cooking time: 12-15 minutes

Ingredients

Pack of good quality sausages - I used 8.  Italian style sausages will work really well or anything with lots of herbs.

1 onion

2 bulbs of garlic, crushed and smoothed with salt

2 chillies (I like to use one red and one green, deseeded)

Bay leaves

Fresh basil, to serve

400g chopped tomatoes

Parmesan cheese, grated (doesn't have to be expensive stuff)

A good handful of fennel seeds

Splash of red wine vinegar (or any vinegar you have to hand)

Red wine (I just used what I had leftover)

Large pasta shells or tubes (I used rigatoni, Co-op do an amazing range where the pasta is really thick and works beautifully with the sauce)

1.  Remove the skin from the garlic, pour salt on to the bulb and then crush with the knife.  Salt will help dissolve the garlic.  Finely dice the onion and chilli.  Set aside in a bowl.

2.  With a sharpened blade, score along the sausage so that you can remove the skin.  With your fingers, break the sausages in to meatball-sized chunks.

3.  The trick for a good mid-week dinner is speed.  Ninjas don't hang about.  First thing, boil the kettle and get your pasta cooking straight away.  If you follow these instructions and have all your ingredients prepped you can make the sauce and it will be finished when your pasta is ready like an Italian pro.  Now you are ready to start cooking.

4.  Heat a good glug of olive oil in the pan, get it nice and hot, add the sausages, leaving them for around a minute and a half on each side without stirring, to get a nice crispy, seared effect.  This will also make sure that your meatballs do not disintegrate.

Take time to contemplate the aromas from the pan.  Enlightening.

5.  Add the chillies, onion and garlic to the pan.  This is my holy trinity for most good pasta sauces.  Then add the fennel seeds and a few bay leaves.  Mix through with a splash of vinegar.  Cook gently, stirring regularly until the onions are softened and the fennel is fragrant.

6.  Add the wine to the mix.  Simmer for two to three minutes, stirring occasionally.  Let the flavours merge and let it all do its thing.

7.  Add the tomatoes when the mixture starts to get sticky and stir through.  Season well with salt and pepper.  Simmer for 3-4 minutes.

8.  While your sauce is simmering, just to loosen it up a bit, until it's that perfect, just-a-little-bit-runnier-than-custard consistency, add some of the starchy water from the pasta.  This is better than using tap water because the starch from the pasta is like a thickening agent.  Drain the pasta and put back in its pan, then add the sauce to the pasta.  Add the parmesan cheese and stir through for equal distribution.  

9.  Spoon equal amounts of the pasta, meatballs and the sauce on to the plate and sprinkle with fresh basil leaves.  Authentic and simple, like any good pasta dish should be.  

Anthony 'A.J' Soprano Jr: Is it true that the Chinese invented spaghetti? 
Tony Soprano: Now think about it. Why would people who eat with sticks invent something you need a fork to eat?

Southern Sausage Schmooblydong

Everyone in England loves sausages, and don't get me wrong, I love a sausage casserole with cameralised onions and mashed potato as much as the next person.  But there are a lot of variations from different countries on this classic, and sometimes paring sausages with more unconventional vegetables and spices can produce delicious results for a one-pot dish.  For example, the addition of tinned tomatoes with the spices and chillis makes an excellent liquor similar to that of chilli con carne, but mixed with the beautiful pork juices.  I like to serve this stew with rice in a jambalaya/gumbo style.

Serves 3-6
Preparation time (depending on how ninja you are with a knife!):  5 - 15 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes






Ingredients

Good quality sausages (2-3 per person, I was cooking for myself and my female ninja assailant, so I used 6)  I would recommend using a caremalised onion variety.
1 red onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 green pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
1 yellow pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
2 sticks of celery, trimmed and roughly chopped, yellow inner leaves reserved for garnish
4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1-2 fresh chillies, finely chopped (and deseeded if unlike me, you are not at the highest ninja level!)
3 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped
A small bunch of fresh curly parsley, roughly chopped
10 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
1 heaped tsp paprika
1 heaped tsp cayenne pepper
4 bay leaves
1 tsp sumak
1 tbsp onion flakes
1 tsp celery seeds
1 tsp celery salt
Pinch nutmeg
2-3 heaped tbsps plain flour
1 tbsp red wine vinegar (or any vinegar substitute will do)
750ml chicken stock (veg or lamb are fine too)
150ml lager
400g tin chopped tomatoes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Long grain rice to serve

1. Chop all your vegetables and prepare your spices.


 2. Put a glug of olive oil in large saucepan and cook the sausages until brown all over.  Remove from the pan using a slotted spoon and put on a plate.  Keep the fat and oil in the pan to fry the veg in.


3. From the other side of the kitchen, precisely throw the onion, peppers and celery in to the pan in the same way you would shoot a basketball through a hoop.  Or, if you are not a ninja, just put 'em in the pan.  Fry on a medium heat for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes, until soft.


4. Add the chilli, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and all of the spices, then fry for another couple of minutes.


5.  Pour some of the kick ass beer that you will be drinking in to the pot, and give everything a good stir round.  I find this helps all the flavours to merge and is a good way to moisten the mixture without adding more oil.  Then continue drinking.


6. Next, stir in the flour and the vinegar.  The flour has to cook out so cook for a couple of minutes, giving everything a good stir a couple of times.  Then add your sausages, chicken stock and chopped tomatoes, then stir again.  Add a good amount of salt and pepper (seasoning liberally is the way of the ninja!) Bring to the boil and allow to simmer for 15 minutes or until you have a nice, thick, tasty gravy.


7.  While the stew is simmering cook the rice according to the package instructions.  The secret ninja way is to guesstimate just enough water so that when the rice is cooked all the water has been absorbed in to the rice and the rice is glossy and starchy.

8.  To serve, put a ladleful of rice on the plate, and with a spoon or your fingers make a well in the middle.  Place two (or three) sausages in the well and ladle over the vegetables and lashings of gravy.  Top with chopped parsley, celery leaves and spring onions.  Enjoy with a big glass of Argentinian red wine!

"It was... there's no word to describe it. Schmooblydong? That's not it, but it's close."