Sausage meat browned hard with crushed fennel seeds and a splash of white wine, loosened into a rough ragu for gluten-free rigatoni.
Prep
12 mins
Cook
30 mins
Servings
4
Per serving
£2.05
Difficulty
easy
Most British sausages contain rusk, which is wheat, so this recipe is built around gluten-free sausages instead. Skinning them and frying the meat in craggy lumps gives you the browned edges that make the sauce taste like it simmered all afternoon.
Heat the oil in a large, heavy frying pan over a high heat. Pinch the sausage meat into rough walnut-sized lumps straight into the pan and leave them alone for 3 minutes so they crust underneath.
Break the lumps up a little with a wooden spoon, add the crushed fennel seeds and chilli flakes, and fry for another 4 minutes until there are dark brown patches all over the meat.
Resist stirring early. That brown crust is the entire point of this sauce.
Turn the heat down to medium, add the onion and cook for 6 minutes until softened in the sausage fat, then stir in the garlic for a minute.
Pour in the wine and let it bubble hard for 2 minutes, scraping the base of the pan clean. Stir in the tomato puree, then the chopped tomatoes and a tin's worth of water. Simmer gently for 15 minutes until glossy and thick, then season.
Meanwhile cook the rigatoni in a big pan of salted boiling water for one minute under the packet time. Save a mugful of water and drain.
Toss the pasta through the ragu with a splash of the cooking water and half the parmesan. Serve with the rest of the cheese and the parsley.