Orecchiette with Italian sausage and tomato
Italian sausages are typically rather coarsely textured and often robustly flavoured, for example with pork and fennel. If you can't find Italian sausage, substitute any well-flavoured sausage, slipping the cases off the meat and coarsely crumbling it before cooking it.
Ingredients
400g Italian sausages
2 tbsp olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red onion, thinly sliced
6 ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
80ml (⅓ cup) white wine or water
2 tbsp tomato paste
½ tsp dried oregano
⅓ cup basil, shredded
500g orecchiette
whole basil leaves, to garnish
grated pecorino cheese, to serve
Method
Step 1
Cut away the skin of the sausages, discarding the skin, and coarsely crumble the meat into bite-sized pieces.
Step 2
Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large frying pan. Add the sausage and cook, turning occasionally, over low heat for 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.
Step 3
Add the remaining oil to the pan. Cook the garlic and onion over medium heat for 3 minutes, without letting them burn, then add the tomato, wine or water, tomato paste, oregano and shredded basil. Simmer for 20 minutes, or until slightly thick. Season to taste with salt and freshy ground black pepper.
Step 4
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water, following the packet instructions, until al dente. Drain.
Step 5
Return the crumbled sausage to the sauce and heat through for 2 minutes.
Step 6
Toss the sauce through the pasta, garnish with basil leaves and serve with the pecorino cheese.
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Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/goodfood/recipes/orecchiette-with-italian-sausage-and-tomato-20130725-2qlfe.html