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Photograph of Italian Sausage Ragù with Fennel Seeds and Chilli

Italian Sausage Ragù with Fennel Seeds and Chilli

This mouth-watering, Italian Sausage Ragù with Fennel Seeds and Chilli is bursting with a range of flavours from the sausages, fennel seeds, garlic, chilli and tomatoes. The fennel seeds, chilli and wine add a flavourful touch to this delightful pasta sauce, without being too rich or losing its ‘comfort food’ appeal.

Serves 3 - 4

Course Dinner, Lunch, Supper
Cuisine Italian
Keyword chilli, fennel, Garlic, Pasta, sausages
Prep Time 15 minutes
Author Susan

Ingredients

Ragù:

  • 1 teaspoon and 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided and if necessary
  • 400g Italian sausages or pork sausages
  • 125g/1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 50g – 60g/1-2 sticks celery, trimmed and finely chopped
  • 100g/1 carrot, trimmed and finely chopped
  • 16g/4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
  • ½ teaspoon fennel seeds, or more to taste
  • ¼ – ½ teaspoon chilli flakes
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 125ml/½ cup white wine
  • 125m/½ cup chicken stock
  • 2 tins tomatoes, whole or chopped
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 – 2 teaspoons brown sugar, to taste
  • Zest of 1 lemon
  • ¼ – ½ teaspoon fine salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Penne:

  • 300g penne pasta
  • 2 teaspoons fine salt
  • chopped parsley

To serve:

  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
  • finely grated parmesan
  • crisp green salad served with balsamic dressing

Instructions

  1. Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.

  2. Take the skin off the sausages and break up the meat.

  3. Heat the 1 teaspoon olive oil in a frying pan, over a moderately hot temperature, and cook the sausage for 5 – 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Stir from time to time. Break the meat up as you stir.

  4. Remove the sausage meat from the pan onto a plate lined with kitchen paper to absorb any fat. Tip all bar 1 tablespoon fat from the pan. If there is no additional fat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil.

  5. Turn the heat down to moderate and add the onion, celery and carrot. Cook for 5 minutes, until soft and slightly caramelised.

  6. Add the garlic, fennel seeds, chilli, rosemary and bay and cook for a further 1 minute, or until aromatic.

  7. Return the sausage to the pan. Add the wine, bring to the boil and reduce by half.

  8. Now add the chicken stock and reduce by half.

  9. Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt and the freshly ground black pepper.

  10. Simmer, with the lid half on for 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more sugar, salt and/or pepper, if necessary.

  11. Stir in the lemon zest and cook for a further 2 – 3 minutes.

  12. 10 minutes before the ragù is ready, cook the penne (see below).

  13. To serve: add the penne to the ragù with ½ cup of pasta water. Mix well ensuring that the pasta is coated in the ragù. Add extra pasta water as necessary.

  14. Sprinkle with some chopped parsley and serve with salad and fresh or garlic bread on the side. Hand around the finely grated parmesan cheese separately.

Cook the pasta:

  1. Cook the penne in boiling, salted water until al dente, according to packet instructions.

  2. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water and drain the pasta.

Recipe Notes

Equipment:

  • chopping board and knife
  • kitchen scales and measuring spoons 
  • frying pan or cast iron pan
  • measuring jug
  • food processor

Sausages:

Do try and get good quality Italian sausages. They offer a different flavour and texture palate to a lot of British sausages. However, whilst they are readily available in London, this may not be the case outside of larger cities. If you can’t find any, choose some good quality pork sausages and consider increasing the fennel, garlic and chilli, to taste.