Sausage always makes a great quick-supper standby. Rather than cooking them whole, though, I’ll often split them open to get at all the meat inside. Because it’s already beautifully seasoned, it gives you a head start and means you achieve greater depth of flavor in double-quick time.
SERVES: 2
INGREDIENTS:
- Olive oil
- 1 small onion, peeled and finely diced
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
- 3-4 best-quality Italian sausages
- 5 ounces dried tagliatelle
- 8 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, to serve
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Heat a frying pan large enough to contain the pasta once cooked. Add a little oil and sweat the onions and garlic together for 3-4 minutes until the onions have softened. Remove the meat from the sausage skins, add to the pan, and brown for 4-5 minutes. Break up the sausage meat as you fry so that it resembles small pieces of ground pork.
- Meanwhile, cook the tagliatelle in boiling salted water until al dente, according to the package instructions.
- When the sausage meat is lightly colored, add the halved tomatoes and a little salt and pepper to the pan and continue to cook over medium heat for 5 minutes until the tomatoes begin to break down. Add a tablespoon or two of the pasta water to the pan as it cooks to create a sauce.
- Drain the pasta, reserving an additional couple of tablespoons of the cooking water. Add the drained pasta directly to the pan with the sauce. Toss well, and loosen with a little more of the cooking water if necessary. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve hot with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
