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Sausage Pasta Sauce

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We've been choppin' sausages for my light and refreshing Sausage Pasta Sauce which is a bolognaise style dish loaded with vegetables, it's the usual comfort food but a much lighter and refreshing alternative to my bean based pasta sauce. Here I'm using plain pork sausages, skinning them & breaking them down into bite size pieces so they spread through out the dish like diced meat would. I'm also adding smoked back bacon, adding that essential flavour. It means each mouthful you will get a little meaty jewel amongst the bell peppers and sauce. Yummy! Ideal for the kids & adults alike. Occassionally I will pep' this up with some dried crushed red chilli's. Not on this occasion as I'm spiced out this week ;-)

Click the Method tab below to see a step by step guide on how to make my Sausage Pasta Sauce along with some pictures as a guide.

sausage pasta sauce and fusilli

ingredients

Here's what you need :¬)

serves 4 - 6

for the pasta sauce

  • 454 g x 1 pack of Pork sausages sliced into 5 pieces & rounded
  • 180g x 1/2 pack of smoked back bacon sliced
  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 & 1/2 white onions finely diced
  • 2 sticks celery finely diced
  • 2 carrots grated
  • 1 red green & yellow pepper sliced & halved
  • 1/2 Pack of chestnut mushrooms thickly sliced
  • 5 cloves garlic finely diced
  • 400g tin of plum tomatoes pulped
  • 1 tin water
  • 1 tsp sea salt crushed
  • 1 & 1/2 tsp black pepper corns crushed
  • 1 OXO™ chicken stock cube crumbled
  • 1 OXO™ vegetable stock cube crumbled
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 to 1 tbls worcestershire sauce

for the pasta

  • 100g fusilli pasta
  • large pan of boiling salted water
  • 1 heaped Tbsp salt (for the water)

side salad

Now this is completely optional and could be served as a dish in itself, but, it marries excellently as a side to this pasta dish.

  • Lettuce — a few leaves shredded
  • Cucumber — finely sliced
  • Onion — halved & finely sliced
  • Tomato — thinly sliced

salad dressing

  • 150ml olive oil
  • 50ml wine vinegar — red or white
  • 2 tsp Dyjon mustard
  • Pinch of sugar
  • Pinch of salt

Cheese for dressing

  • Extra Mature Cheddar — grated
  • Parmasan — shavings

method

In my usual style I have every thing out and chopped bar the sausages. I'll prepare those while the bacon & vegetables fry. We want the veg' to be translucent so they disapper into the tomato sauce ‐ hidden goodness that is essential to the flavour of the dish. There's is no substitue for the 'Holy Trinity!'

You can prepare your side salad, dressing & cheese for topping while the pasta is cooking. To make the salad dressing, just find a suitable pot/container with a lid and mix all the ingredients for the salad dressing together, then shake well to properly mix the ingredients and emulsify the oil and vinegar, the clear vinegar and olive oil will mix to form a light yellow/milky coloured liquid when properly emulsified.

main ingredients
ingredients
chopped peppers
chpped peppers on board
  1. Heat a heavy based pan & add 1/2 the vegetable oil
  2. Add your bacon & bay leaves once the oil is shimmering
add bacon & bay leaves
bacon and bay leaf 01
  1. Allow your bacon to crisp up & colour
crisp up & colour the bacon
bacon and bay leaf 02

About this time, I start to prepare the sausage, it makes these 5 minutes frying bacon, onions and veg' fly by!

Easiest way to do the sausages is slice from end to end just breaking the skin. Remove the skin and slice them into 5. Get a little oil onto your hands & create round balls in the center of your palm. If they start to stick get more oil.

cut the sausage skins
sausage skins slit

Slit the sausage skins with a sharp knife

cut each sausage into 5
choppin sausages 02

cut the sausage into 5 and roll each piece into balls

roll into balls
sausage balls

Back to the pan...

  1. Once the bacon is done push every thing to one side
  2. Add the onions & garlic for 5 minutes
add onions & garlic
softening onions
  1. Once onions done push every thing to one side
  2. Add carrots & celary & cook gently for 5 minutes
add carrots & celery
softening carrots
  1. Add in your mushrooms
add mushrooms
mushrooms added to pan
  1. Add seasoning & dried herbs, stir to combine
add herbs & seasoning
add herbs ans spices
  1. Add your plum tomatoes
add tomatoes
add tomatoes
  1. Add stock cubes & water in stir to combine
add stock cubes & water
water added to pan
  1. Stir well & bring to a simmer
bring to a simmer
sausage pasta sauce simmering
  1. Your sauce is now nearly complete so set it aside in a pot
  2. Clean out your pan ready to fry your sausages balls
  1. Add remaining vegetable oil to the hot pan
  2. Add your sausage balls in 4 separate stages so the pan stays hot
Add first batch of sausage
browning sausages 01
  1. As each starts to brown add the next batch until all are in the pan and browning
add next batch of sausage
browning sausages 02
brown well all over
browning sausages 02
  1. Once they are all looking appetising return your sauce to the pan and combine
  2. As soon as the sauce starts to heat cover & simmer for 20 minutes
  3. Now the peppers need to be added and cooked for another 10 minutes until soft*

*However you like your peppers, soft or crunchy, it's a personal choice, just cook them until you love them :¬P

add peppers
add peppers
  1. Meanwhile, put your pasta on to cook
  2. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil
  3. Add the pasta
add pasta to boiling salted water
fusilli pasta in pn
  1. Bring back to the boil & simmer until cooked
simmer until cooked
fusilli pasta boiling in pan
  1. Once cooked, drain the pasta and stir into the sauce
serve to please :¬)
sausage pasta sauce and fusilli 02
serving suggestion
side salad dressing and grated cheese
side salad, cheese & salad dressing
serving suggestion
side salad and dressing
side salad with salad dressing
grated cheese & parmasan flakes
grated cheese parmasan flakes
add grated cheese & parmasan flakes
sausage pasta sauce and fusilli