My Relationship with Italian Food

I have always been a big fan of pasta. As children I’m sure we have all enjoyed simple dishes of buttered or pesto pasta and spaghetti bolognese. As adults, we can all enjoy discovering the full range of options the world of pasta has to offer. I love making fresh pasta, cooking classic recipes and trying out my own approaches. This is what led me to create this sausage pasta recipe!

Italy is probably my favourite country in the world. The food there is truly incredible, the scenery is fantastic and the people are wonderful. I am also lucky enough to be close friends with Italians who are very particular about their cooking. This has given me a high standard to meet with my Italian cooking.

Pasta Making Techniques

While this recipe is not necessarily one of the absolute classics, it is a common combination in Italy. On top of that, it makes really good use of some classic ingredients and pasta making techniques!

One common pasta technique, particularly in central Italian dishes, is the use of hard cheeses in a sauce. Cheese such as parmiggiano reggiano and pecorino romano add a lovely saltiness to a dish. Further, they provide an indulgent creaminess. Roman chefs frequently use this in their pastas, like carbonara and amatriciana.

While this particular recipe uses actual cream, the cheese does still help to bring depth to the sauce and flavour. Cream based sauces are common in the northern part of Italy. Inclusion of white wine is very common in these to balance out the fattiness and add acidity. Of course not everyone consumes alcohol, so if this is the case i would use a splash of white wine vinegar instead.

Ingredients

Sausage and broccolini is a really classic ingredient pairing in Italy. Pasta dishes frequently feature it and I have even come across it as a pizza topping combination, particularly with a white base. I live in the UK, so I am spoilt for choice when it comes to good sausages. A lot of Italian sausages however tend to be flavoured with fennel seeds. This isn’t so common in the British sausages, so I add fennel seeds separately to give the same flavour.

When choosing a sausage for this, go for something spiced and herby like a cumberland or lincolnshire sausage. I would not pick something that features caramelised onion or apple for example, because their strong flavour will overpower and likely not work well with the other flavours in the dish.

A Footnote on Broccoli

It is easy to confuse broccolini and broccoli rabe. Broccolini is a hybridisation of European and Chinese broccoli, while broccoli rabe is closer related to turnips. I prefer broccolini, as rabe has a more biter flavour. You will often find this sold as tenderstem broccoli. A great fun fact for this is that tenderstem is actually a trademark name! It is just the name given by one particular brand. Bring that out at your next dinner party.

Creamy Sausage, Broccolini & Fennel Rigatoni

5 from 1 vote

A hearty and delicious pasta dish. It comes together in only 30 minutes for a quick weeknight dinner!

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Servings: 2 People

Course: Dinner, Main Course, Pasta

Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 150 g Rigatoni
• 4 Sausages Cumberland, Lincolnshire, Italian etc.
• 60 g Broccolini Cut into 2 cm pieces
• 100 ml Double Cream Heavy cream in the US
• 50 g Parmiggiano Reggiano Or pecorino romano, gran pedano etc. – Grated
• 125 ml White Wine Or 2 tsp white wine vinegar
• 2 tsp Fennel Seeds
• 2 Shallots Sliced thin
• 3 cloves Garlic Minced or grated
• 1/2 tsp Chilli Flakes Optional
• 1 tsp Olive Oil

Method

 

1. Heat a pan to medium high and add the oil.
2. Deskin the sausages and break them up by hand into the pan.
3. Keep the sausages moving around and let them start to develop some good brown colour.
4. Once browned, add the shallots and cook for 2-3 minutes. Season with salt & pepper.
5. Add the broccolini and cook for 1-2 minutes.
6. Add the garlic, fennel seeds and chilli flakes and cook for a further minute.
7. Pour the wine in and deglaze the pan, turn the heat up to bring the wine to a boil.
8. Bring a pan of salted water to a boil and add you pasta. Cook for around 2 minutes less than the manufacturer instructions.
9. Reduce to a simmer and let it cook down until half of the wine has cooked off and the alcohol smell has faded.
10. Add the cream and let cook for a couple of minutes, mixing well to let all the flavours combine.
11. Add in the cheese and a laddle of pasta water from the pot and mix together. The cheese will start to melt and mix into the cream sauce to thicken it and create a silky smooth sauce.
12. Drain your pasta and add it into the sauce. Toss the pasta into the sauce and cook for a final 2 minutes to finish the pasta.
13. Serve with some grated parmesan and freshly ground pepper.