Jamie Oliver Meets The Honest Butcher

So I finally managed to get some pork sausage so I could follow Jamie Oliver’s original recipe for Jool’s Pregnant Pasta. As luck would have it The Honest Butcher had not only pork sausage but pork sausage with fennel – oh happy day.  I bought 3 to make this recipe (they are a good size). I also decided to use egg noodles.

Ingredients:

3 Honest Butcher house-made pork sausages with fennel (approx 400 g)
1 medium yellow onion peeled and quartered
4 spring onions, rough chopped
1 carrot, rough chopped
3 sticks of celery, rough chopped
1 small jalapeno pepper deseeded (it’s the seeds that provide most of the heat)
1 pinch of dried oregano (to be honest I’m guessing…it was some sort of dried (legal) herb)
4 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 jar of Passata strained tomatoes (I used Mutti brand) (700 g)
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 Tbsp olive oil

1 package egg noodles

Put the rough chopped veggies in a food processor and whiz for a few seconds. With the motor running feed the sausages through the feed tube and whiz until you get a meatloaf like substance – don’t worry it breaks up when you fry it.  Heat the olive oil in a big frying pan and add the sausage and veggie ragu. Fry, breaking up as you go. If it’s good quality sausage (and David’s is very good) you won’t get a lot of grease so there’s no need to drain it. Add the oregano (or other legal dried herb), fennel seeds and crush the garlic into the meat with a garlic press. Add the balsamic vinegar and fry for about 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and simmer while you bring the pasta water to a boil. Cook the whole package of egg noodles. Drain off but keep about a cup of the pasta water to thin the sauce. Add the drained pasta to the frying pan, stir, add some pasta water to create a “sikly” consistency and serve with fresh grated parmesan (or not…I had mine with just salt and fresh ground pepper).

House carnivore comments:  “Umph that smells good” and (after tasting) the “Mmmmm” sound Homer Simpson makes.

House vegetarian comments: “It’s yummy” ?!? Nuff said.