Tagliatelle with Quick Sausage Meat Bolognese
(Recipe by Gordon Ramsey - Home Cooking Cookbook)
Sausage always makes a great quick-supper standby. Rather than cooking them whole though, I’ll often split them open to get all the meat inside. Because it’s already beautifully seasoned, it gives you a head start and means you achieve greater depth of flavour in a double-quick time. ~ Gordon Ramsey
INGREDIENTS (I used all organic ingredients):
1 small onion, peeled and finely diced
1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
3-4 best quality Italian sausages
5 ounces dried tagliatelle
8 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to serve
Heat a frying pan large enough to contain the pasta once cooked. Add a little oil and sweat the onions and garlic together for 3-4 minutes until the onions have softened. Remove the meat from the sausage skins, add to the pan, and brown for 4-5 minutes. Break up the sausage meat as you fry so that it resembles small pieces of ground pork.
Meanwhile, cook the tagliatelle in boiling salted water until al dente, according to the package instructions.
When the sausage meat is lightly coloured, add the halved tomatoes and a little salt and pepper to the pan and continue to cook over medium heat for 5 minutes until the tomatoes begin to break down. Add a tablespoon or two of the pasta water to the pan as it cooks to create a sauce.
Drain the pasta, reserving an additional couple of tablespoons of the cooking water. Add the drained pasta directly to the pan with the sauce. Toss well, and loosen with the little more of the cooking water if necessary. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve hot with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
This dish was super easy to make and a great choice if you are looking for a quick disk to make after work that doesn’t take a long time to put together. I used a high quality organic garlic Italian sausage and the only changes I made to this recipe was adding chopped mushrooms while cooking the onions and garlic and I also garnished with some freshly chopped basil, which added a nice sweet taste. I like the concept of using the sausages for the bolognese sauce, because it’s already seasoned perfectly it adds a punch of flavour. Just be easy on the salt, I found the sausage meat was salty enough and didn’t really add any additional salt. I loved this recipe and would definitely make it again, I wouldn’t really change anything, but it’s one of those dishes you can add a little heat if you like it spicy. TIP: If you want it more saucy, double the cherry tomatoes! Great recipe by Gordon Ramsey! If you try it, let me know what you think?
Serves 2-3 people