To be honest, I wasn’t going to blog about this recipe. I wasn’t actually going to even make it because to me it sounded a little boring but I happened to have fusilli in the cupboard so why not? Since I am not a bloke I should probably re-name it but I won’t because it is the perfect man pasta! Its super easy, great for Monday night dinners and tastes amazing. So good, that halfway through eating I decided that I would actually blog about it after all. I then had to re-fill J’s bowl so I could take a photo!

Jamie Oliver originally came up with this recipe and I don’t k now why I even doubted him. It doesn’t have a typical sauce and comes out a little liquidy but the fusilli soaks it up and traps the flavour in its spirals. Jamie suggests to buy the best sausage you can find but I used just your typical Johnsonville mild ground Italian sausage from the grocery store and it was great.

Ingredients

  • 2 tsp fennel seeds
  • 2 dried red chillies crumbled (I used dried chilli flakes, about a tsp)
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • Olive oil
  • Half a pound of ground Italian sausage
  • A glass of white wine
  • Zest and juice of one lemon
  • Fusili or penne
  • Salt and pepper
  • Couple knobs of butter (don’t you love how he talks)
  • Handful of freshly grated parmesan
  • A small bunch of flat lead parsley, chopped

Bash up the fennel seeds and chilies in a pestle and mortar set aside (I don’t have one so I chopped it up on my cutting board). Heat a splash of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan. Squeeze the meat out of the sausage skins and put into the pan, really breaking it up using the back of a spoon. Fry for a few minutes until the meat starts to color and the fat has rendered slightly, and then crush it once more so it resembles coarse mince. Add the bashed-up fennel seeds and chilies and cook on a medium heat for around 10 minutes until the meat becomes crisp, golden brown and slightly caramelized. ( I am sure I didn’t cook it that long, just eye ball it)

Stir in your oregano, then pour in the white wine and allow it to reduce by half. Add the lemon zest and juice. Turn the heat down to low while you cook your pasta in a large pan of salted boiling water according to the packet instructions. When the pasta has cooked al dente, drain it in a colander, reserving some of the cooking water, and toss it in the pan with your sausage meat. Coat the pasta in all the lovely flavours then add the butter, Parmesan, chopped parsley and a few spoonfuls of the reserved cooking water. This will give you a lovely loose, shiny sauce. Taste and check for seasoning, then serve immediately with a little extra grated Parmesan sprinkled over the top.

I tasted the meat sauce throughout cooking and it tasted good but the entire time I was worried about there being too much fennel, then too much wine, then too much lemon but the end result was great. It was light, flavourful, rich but without a heavy feeling. I am definitely going to make this one again!