Rigatoni with fennel sausage sauce

Hearty rigatoni tossed in a rich fennel-sausage tomato ragù finished with pecorino and a fresh basil-anchovy pesto — comforting, aromatic Italian pasta.

Ingredients

Main

2.5 tbsp olive oil
6 pcs (1.5cm slices) Italian fennel sausages
1 large onion
1 trimmed and roughly chopped fennel (bulb)
0.5 tsp smoky paprika
1 clove sliced garlic
2 tsp fennel seeds lightly toasted and crushed
100 ml red wine
400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
0.5 tsp caster sugar
50 g black olives pitted halved
500 g rigatoni
30 g pecorino
1 pcs anchovy fillet rinsed and patted dry
1 clove crushed garlic
60 ml olive oil
50 g basil leaves torn
100 ml water (for sauce)
0.5 tsp salt

For cooking

1 tbsp (for frying) olive oil

Garnish

fennel fronds

Directions

Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large sauté pan with a lid and fry sausage slices over medium-high heat for 10 minutes until golden, stirring regularly.
Transfer sausages to a plate; add chopped onion and fennel to the hot pan and fry 15 minutes until soft and caramelised, adding ~1 tsp extra oil if dry.
Stir in smoky paprika, sliced garlic and half the fennel seeds and fry 2 minutes.
Pour in red wine and boil 30 seconds to reduce by half.
Add chopped tomatoes, caster sugar, 100 ml water, seared sausages and 0.5 tsp salt, cover and simmer 30 minutes, removing lid after 10 minutes and cook until thick.
Remove from heat, stir through black olives and remaining fennel seeds and set aside.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook rigatoni 12–14 minutes or until al dente; drain and return to pot, stir in 1 tbsp oil.
Meanwhile, make pesto: put anchovy, crushed garlic, 60 ml olive oil and 1 tbsp water in a food processor and blitz to a rough paste, add torn basil and blitz gently until just combined.
Divide pasta between bowls, spoon over the ragù and top each with a spoonful of pesto, finish with chopped fennel fronds if available and serve immediately.