If you’re counting calories or looking for food that holds the promise of spring (with fronds and green shoots and the like) you had best press the back button now.
Saturday dawned grey. Again. And it was so tempting to hunker down indoors. Again. But we decided to change our psychology. Instead of pretending the weather was what we wanted it to be, we dug out our proper coats and accepted it for what it was. We headed to the beach with our skateboards and scooters, and although the sun didn’t shine (a few mad folk frolicked in their bathing costumes, luminously goose-pimpled) it was actually a lovely day for a walk. If you didn’t dwell too much on how warm and sunny it should have been.
When we returned home windblown and slightly frazzled, we needed something comforting for supper. And while I have an irrational prejudice against pasta bakes - there is something very, I don’t know, hostess trolley, about the term - it seemed appropriate. A little bit of pottering at the hob, followed by a chance to sit down with a glass of something lovely while supper melded together in the oven was just what I wanted. And meld together supper did. The smell that comes from the oven while this is cooking is insanely good and guaranteed to persuade any calorie-counter to resume their depressing business another time.
Use terrific sausages here. My butcher had run out of cooking chorizo so I used her Spanish-style snags instead. If you do use chorizo, use your judgement and remove some of the oil from the pan if they ooze too much. Likewise, adjust the chilli according to your taste and the type of sausages you use.
If ever there was a silver lining to a drab and dreary weekend in May, this is it.
Baked penne with spicy sausage sauce and cheese
Serves 4
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 red onion, peeled and chopped
- 2 cloves smoked garlic (normal is fine), minced
- 4 good quality spicy sausages, cases split and meat removed
- 150ml red wine
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- good pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- large handful ripe cherry tomatoes
- 70g Parmesan, grated, plus extra for sprinkling
- 70g Gruyère, grated, plus extra for sprinkling
- 150ml double cream
1. Heat the oil in a heavy-based pan and cook the onion gently for 8 minutes or so until very soft and starting to turn golden. Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes longer.
2. Add the sausage meat to the pan, breaking it up with the edge of a spoon into very small pieces and mixing it in with the onions. Increase the heat and brown the meat really well, until it has a golden crust.
3. Splosh in the wine, scraping the bottom of the pan well with a wooden spoon, and let the liquid bubble away for a few moments. Add the rosemary, bay, chilli (if using), fennel seeds and tomatoes, reduce the heat and let the pan barely simmer for 5 minutes or so. The tomatoes should have melted down and the sauce become thick. Add the cream and taste for seasoning.
4. Meanwhile, cook the penne in salted boiling water until al dente. Drain but reserve a couple of tablespoons of the cooking liquor. Add the cooked pasta to the pan with the sausage sauce and reserved cooking liquor and stir gently until everything is evenly combined. Fold in the cheese, then tip the pasta into a buttered gratin dish. Sprinkle a little extra of both cheeses on top.
5. Bake in a 180°C oven for about 20 minute until the cheese on top is golden and the cause is bubbling.
