Sausage pasta
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 30 mins to 1 hour
- Serve
- Serves 4
This simple sausage pasta sauce is full of flavour, but comes together in about 30 minutes. Sausages make a quick substitute for mince that's already well seasoned. Your store cupboard does the rest!
By Izy Hossack
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 400g/14oz pork sausages, casings removed
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 50g/1¾oz tomato purée
- 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- pinch chilli flakes
- pinch sugar
- 200g/7oz kale or cavolo nero, stems removed and leaves cut into 3cm/1¼in strips
- 400g/14oz dried pasta (any shape)
- sea salt
- freshly grated Parmesan, to serve
Method
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for around 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until starting to brown.
Add the sausage meat and break up into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Cook for 3–4 minutes or until golden-brown.
Stir in the garlic then the tomato purée and cook for a further 2–3 minutes.
Pour in the tomatoes. Fill one of the tins with water and add to the pan along with the oregano, chilli flakes and sugar. Simmer the sauce over a medium–low heat for 10 minutes so it can thicken slightly.
Stir the kale into the sauce and cook for a further 5–10 minutes, until the leaves have softened. Add a splash of water to the pan if the sauce is looking too thick. Taste and season with salt, if needed.
Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook according to packet instructions. Drain the pasta, reserving a mugful of the pasta cooking water.
Add the pasta to the sauce in the frying pan and stir together, loosening with a splash of pasta water if needed to help coat the pasta.
Remove from the heat and divide between bowls. Top with the grated cheese and serve.
Recipe tips
Some sausages are very salty so you might not need any extra salt in the sauce. Make sure you taste the sauce before adding seasoning.
Any leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Freeze for up to 3 months and defrost in the fridge before reheating in the microwave until piping hot throughout.
For extra richness you can add a splash of cream to the sauce at the end.
To turn this into a pasta bake, you could also put the pasta and sauce in an ovenproof dish and top with a generous amount of graded cheddar or mozzarella cheese. Bake or grill until the cheese has melted.
Good-quality vegetarian sausages can also be used. Be aware that they typically contain less fat so you might need to use a little extra oil when frying the sausage meat.
