Weeknight Dinner

UNSTUFFED JUMBO PASTA WITH SAUSAGE, CHIPOTLE AND FENNEL (PLUS ANCHOVY CRUMB): If…

UNSTUFFED JUMBO PASTA WITH SAUSAGE, CHIPOTLE AND FENNEL (PLUS ANCHOVY CRUMB):
If I can be a little lazy in the kitchen and still get results I’m going to give it a go! …Some recipes call for stuffing shells or long slow cooking but I just wasn’t up for that today. So I thought I’d make a quick sauce with a bit of pep and spice, and figured if I just really tossed the pasta about some of the filling would happen to fall inside! Well it did. And it was delicious. I’ve listed the ingredients here and you can watch my speedy little cook over on stories/highlights shortly ?
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INGREDIENTS (serves 4)
…For the sauce:
6 good sausages (removed from casings)
1/2 fennel bulb (roughly diced)
1 leek (sliced)
1/2 punnet mushrooms (roughly quartered)
2 garlic bulbs (grated)
1 can nice chopped tomatoes
1/2 can water (using the tomato can)
1 heaped tsp red pesto (I used one with ‘nduja)
1tsp herbes de province
1tsp chipotle chilli flakes
1tbsp balsamic vinegar
Squeeze lemon
Salt & pepper to taste
1-2tbsp olive oil throughout cooking (and a little to finish)
+ pasta of choice (I wanted jumbo shells for this)
Note: reserve 1 small cup of pasta water to finish sauce (I used an espresso cup)
Optional: fresh thyme and basil to serve
– First brown the sausage meat for a couple mins. Remove from pan. Then soften the fennel, leek in a little olive oil (using the same pan) for a couple mins, then add the mushrooms. Cook for a couple more mins before adding the garlic, quickly ed by the tinned tomatoes and water. I popped the lid on and let it cook for as long as it took to boil my pasta. Before serving I added all seasoning + the pasta water to the sauce and let the balsamic cook out for a min. To finish, toss the pasta through a generous amount of the sauce and top with fresh herbs and anchovy crumb.

…For the anchovy crumb:
1/2 can anchovies (about 4-5)
1/2 can of oil from anchovies
1 garlic clove (grated)
3tbsp panko breadcrumbs
1tsp olive oil
Big pinch black pepper
– Gently fry the anchovies with the oils until they soften and break down. Add garlic, then breadcrumbs and black pepper. Keep stirring with a fork until deeply golden (3-5mins on medium heat). Top pasta.

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