Sausage & Fennel Tagliatelle
A cosy and delicious family recipe for chilly days. Sausages pair brilliantly with a touch of fennel to make a warming ragu that settles a windy and uncomfortable tummy. This is a great easy recipe switch if you are bored of bolognaise in your household and looking for a change.
Fresh egg pasta, made with durum wheat, cooks quickly and adds nutrients such as choline and extra protein to this meal. Get the best quality sausages or sausage meat you can source as, outdoor reared pork contains some vitamin D.
See the gluten-free, egg-free and dairy-free options in the notes below.
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Sausage & Fennel Tagliatelle
- 1 Onion ((small))
- 1 Carrot
- 1 stick Celery
- 1 bulb Fennel ((small))
- 2 cloves Garlic (crushed))
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 0.5 tsp Fennel Seeds
- 1 tsp Italian Herbs ((mixed dried))
- 400 g Sausages ((pork or chicken sausages, or you can use pork sausage meat))
- 1 tin Tomatoes
- 1 tbsp Tomato Puree
- 400 g Tagliatelle ((fresh egg pasta))
- 40 g Parmesan
- 1/2 tsp Chilli ((fresh chilli or chilli sauce – optional))
Finely dice the onion, carrot, celery and fennel. Crush the garlic.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan set over a medium heat. Add the diced vegetables, crushed garlic, fennel seeds and mixed Italian herbs. Sauté for 5 minutes until the vegetables are soft.
Remove the sausage meat from inside the sausage skins. Discard the skins and add the sausage meat to the pan. Continue to sauté for a further 10 minutes, breaking up the meat as you stir, until the meat is browning nicely.
Add the tinned tomatoes and tomato puree, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper if you like at this point.
Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Cook the tagliatelle pasta according to the packet instructions. Drain the pasta, reserving some of the cooking water.
Tip the cooked pasta into the sausage ragu, stir well and add a little of the pasta cooking water to loosen if needed.
Divide the pasta ragu between bowls or plates and top with freshly grated parmesan to serve. Add some fresh chilli or chilli sauce if you like a spicy kick to your food.
Gluten-free: use gluten-free sausages and gluten-free pasta.
Egg-free: opt for dry tagliatelle pasta or egg-free pasta.
Dairy-free: switch the parmesan cheese to yeast flakes.
A cook’s tip for preparing the vegetables in advance is to store a bag diced onion, celery and carrot in the freezer. This combination of diced vegetables is called Soffritto and you can buy a Soffritto mix ready-diced from supermarkets.
For an extra speedy supper, cook the sausage ragu ahead of time. Cool completely, tip into a container, cover tightly and refrigerate for up to 3 days or store for up to 3 months in the freezer. Defrost thoroughly and heat through until piping hot before serving.
This was easy to follow and make. The kids loved it, and it was a nice sweeter alternative to spaghetti bolognese. It will be a regular dinner for us now after the whole family gave a thumbs up
Delicious, the whole family loved it!
I will definitely be making it again.