The unnerving realisation that yet another year has quite literally, flown by
A recipe for caramelised fennel and sausage ragu
Can you BELIEVE it’s the last Pasta Sunday of the year?! Today we are devouring a creamy caramelised fennel and sausage ragu situation, paired with a shape that I couldn’t quite ID until a couple of days ago. Major sauce catching possibilities await with this one, plus I’ll try and delve into some explanation behind this mysterious shape, too.
I’ll also be sharing my suggested wine pairing and ultimate Christmas playlist to pair with today’s recipe.
PS - if you’re a paid sub, I’ll be sharing a recipe for a delightful roast carrot side later this week. Perfect for Christmas, it will be part of my spread on the day, that’s for sure. Hope you enjoy.
Tally-ho on we go!
no. 21
Caramelised Fennel and Sausage Ragu
As the subject suggests, I am a *little* rattled by the speed in which this year has gone by. It feels like I was back home in London a couple of weeks ago, when in reality it was way back in June. My current working theory is that every year feels shorter because as you get older, each one becomes a smaller percentage of your lived life, so I’m sticking with that for now.
Last time I wrote about Christmas I mentioned how I get quite homesick around this time of the year, and while that’s true, I still love the holiday season. I LOVE IT. Mostly because of the food, the opportunity to cook for others, and for the planning and preparation involved - I’m a to-do list girly.
While growing up, Christmas food was predominantly anglo-British/Canadian, so living in Australia and experiencing Christmas here has been such a wonderful food experience. Firstly, it’s hot AF and right in the middle of summer, so a sit-down roast dinner is not the ideal approach for Christmas day. Secondly, the produce is incredible. Fresh salads, beautiful meat and seafood, gorgeous mangos, light puddings - it is truly a wonderful array of food, and it’s given me a lot to play with each year. In fact, each time we’ve hosted Christmas day I have introduced a pasta dish. Last year it was a stracciatella/trofie situation, the year prior a baked conchiglione in green sauce, and this year? Well, I’m still deciding but this caramelised fennel and sausage ragu is a serious contender.
It packs a heap of flavour with sweetness from the caramelised fennel and a spicy note from the chilli. The fat from the cream adds a layer of richness without being overbearing, giving the dish this more-ish quality that encourages you to return for seconds. A riff on a rose sauce but with a bit more going on behind the scenes.
Serves 4
Ingredients
Pasta
300g durum wheat semolina flour
135ml warm water (45% hydration)
Caramelised fennel and sausage ragu
EVOO
6 pork sausages, meat removed from its casing
1 fennel bulb, very finely sliced
1 brown onion, very finely sliced
1/2 tbsp sugar
2 dried chillis, rehydrated by soaking in hot water - please amend this to your taste, or use fresh, or substitute for 1/2 tsp+ of dried chilli flakes - OR omit altogether if you’re not vibing the spice
65g tomato paste/pureé
3 garlic cloves, very finely sliced
1 can whole tomatoes (San Marzano if you can source them)
150ml double cream (also known as heavy cream or thickened cream)
Big handful of grated Parmigiano Reggiano, plus extra to serve
Method
Pasta
On a work surface, add the semolina flour and create a well in the centre. Slowly drizzle in the warm water and whisk until you have a custard-like consistency.
Switch to a bench scraper and start to flip the flour from the outer edge over and onto the water mix, using a cutting motion to then mix it in. Continue to do this around all sides until you have a crumbly, sand-like mix.
Start bringing the crumbly dough together with your hands, squeezing and coaxing it in a ball of dough that’s knead-able - scraping up and incorporating as much loose flour from your work surface as possible.
Once you have this shape, begin kneading the dough vigorously for a good 10 minutes until the dough is springy and elastic, and not sticking to your hands at all.
Cover and rest for 30 minutes.
Cut an 1/8 off from the dough (keeping the rest covered while you’re not working with it), and roll the piece into a rope about 2cm thick.
Place the rope vertically in front of you, then using a knife, cut a thumbnail sized piece from the side closest to you. In one motion, keeping the knife at roughly a 15 degree angle to the work surface, drag the small piece towards you until it curves in on itself.
Take the piece of rolled dough and use your thumbs to gentle coax the folded edges open slightly, revealing a sort of bowl shape.
Continue until you’ve used all the dough, placing the shaped pasta on a tray dusted with fine semolina, or a clean tea towel.
The sauce and finishing touches
Heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a sauté pan and add the sausage meat. Use a whisk to break it up in the pan to distribute the sausage meat in relatively even pieces.
Cook until the sausage meat is brown and caramelised, before removing with a slotted spoon and placing onto a dish for later.
To the same pan (which should still have fat from the cooked sausage), add the fennel and onion and allow them to cook for a few minutes before deglazing with a splash of water.
Season generously with salt and add sprinkling of sugar - roughly 1/2 tbsp - and allow the fennel/onion to continue cooking until softened and starting to darken in colour.
Add the dried chillis (whole), and continue to cook until the fennel/onion are looking quite soft, dark in colour and caramelised.
Add the tomato paste which you should allow to cook out in a clear space in the pan for a couple of minutes before incorporating with the fennel/onion.
Add the garlic cloves, stir to combine and wait until their aroma has permeated the room before adding the tinned tomatoes, and about half a can of water.
Place the lid of the pan over but leave a small gap - keep it covered like this and simmer for 15 minutes or until the tomatoes have broken down - you can use the back of the wooden spoon to help them along.
Return the sausage to the pan and let the sauce gently bubble away uncovered while you bring a pot of water to boil for the pasta.
Salt the boiling water generously, then add the pasta and cook until al dente - a few minutes from fresh. If you’ve let the pasta dry then they will take a bit longer - test as you go.
Add the cream and a large handful of grated Parmigiano Reggiano to the sauce before adding the pasta - make sure you take with it some of the cooking water to loosen the sauce and create a luscious and glossy texture.
Serve immediately, with extra Parmigiano.
If you’re interested in learning a little more about this shape with a step by step photographic guide, getting my suggested wine pairing and Christmas soundtrack, then why not consider becoming a paid subscriber and help keep Pasta Sunday going - thank you ❤️
So, what do we call this anyway?
I posted this reel a week or so ago noting that I wasn’t sure exactly what to call this shape. While the comment above was totally useless, I did receive some genuinely helpful ones from iconic pasta-makers who I aspire to be half as good as, one day.
I originally saw this shape posted by legendary sfoglino Lee Yum Hua (better known as @benfatto_95) from Forma in Singapore, and worked my way backwards from this image to try and recreate it myself. He refers to the shape as raschiatelli lucani, and it appears to be made by using two fingers to roll and create the hollow.
My research took me down a couple of avenues.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Pasta Sunday to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.