In the absence of Sicilian sausage meat (seasoned with fennel seed), which would be the base of this perkier-than-bolognese pasta sauce, lean minced pork makes a fine alternative ingredient. The crushed fennel seed adds heat to the sauce but a touch of chilli really does the trick.
Ingredients - serves 6
500g minced pork
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed & finely chopped
2 tbsp Eleanthos olive oil
2 tsp fennel seed, crushed with pestle & mortar
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
1 small sprig rosemary
2 bay leaves
2 tins Essential chopped tomatoes
250ml red wine
3 tbsp Yeo Valley crème fraiche
120g grated Parmesan
salt, pepper |
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Method
1 Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the chopped onions, garlic, chilli, and fennel seed for a couple of minutes. Break up the mince and add to the pan, turning up the heat to brown it, once browned add the rosemary and bay leaves and cook gently for about 15 minutes until the mixture appears dry. Add the red wine, increase heat and cook until the wine is reduced to almost to a syrup.
2 Pour over the chopped tomatoes and cook at a bare simmer for a further half an hour, stirring occasionally, until you have a nice thick sauce. Discard the bay leaves and rosemary, stir in the crème fraiche and grated Parmesan, season with salt & black pepper to taste.
3 Serve over cooked pasta - (allow 100g/person of dried pasta for main course dish) I prefer something like tagliattele or papardelle.
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