Slow-cooked sausage ragù cavatelli with pea and radish salad
This is comfort food perfect for a lazy Sunday – the pasta and sausage casserole can bubble away in the oven whilst you relax.
Ingredients
For the sausage ragù
- 2–3 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 1 red onion, finely chopped
- 1 celery heart, finely chopped
- ½ fennel bulb, trimmed and finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- few rosemary sprigs, leaves picked and finely chopped
- few sage sprigs, leaves picked and finely chopped
- 500g/1lb 2oz good-quality sausage meat
- 200ml/7fl oz red wine
- 2 x 400g tins whole plum tomatoes, mashed up
- 1 bay leaf
- ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- ½ tsp dried red chilli flakes
- 50–100ml/2–3½fl oz double cream
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Parmesan, freshly grated, to serve
For the pasta
For the salad
- 100ml/3½fl oz olive oil
- 150g/5½oz fresh peas, podded and washed
- 10g/⅓oz fresh mint, left whole
- 100g/3½oz baby radishes, sliced
- 4 Little Gem lettuces, trimmed and leaves separated
- 50g/1¾oz pea shoots, leaves picked
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the dressing
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
To make the ragù, heat some of the oil in a casserole over a medium heat. Add the onion, celery and fennel and fry for 5–8 minutes, or until soft. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the garlic, rosemary and sage and fry for a few more minutes. Set aside this mixture in a bowl.
Heat another good glug of oil in the pan and add the sausage meat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Brown the sausage meat all over until golden, stirring vigorously.
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4.
Add the celery mixture back to the pan and pour in the wine. Leave it to bubble for a few minutes before adding the tomatoes, bay leaf, nutmeg and chilli flakes.
Season with salt and pepper, bring to a simmer and cover with the lid.
Cook in the oven for 2 hours, or the longer the better. Take it out from time to time to stir and add a little water if it looks too dry.
Season with salt and pepper and add the cream.
Meanwhile, to make the pasta, place the flour and water in a food processor with a dough hook and knead for 6 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and silky.
Shape the dough into a ball and leave to rest under an upturned bowl for 30 minutes.
Cut a thick strip from the pasta dough and put the rest back under the bowl so that it does not dry out.
Using the hollow of your hands, roll the strip into a 1cm/½in wide rope on a lightly dusted work surface. Cut the rope into 1cm/½in pieces.
Shape the pieces on a cavatelli board by pushing down on the dough with your thumb so that it curls in on itself and makes little ridged caves that will catch the delicious sauce. Repeat with the rest of the pasta dough and set the cavatelli aside.
Alternatively, if you do not have a cavatelli board, use your thumb to press the pieces into an orecchiette shape.
To make the salad, pour the oil into a large bowl.
Bring a small saucepan of water to the boil. Add the peas and simmer until just cooked. Carefully plunge the mint into the pan and then immediately take the peas and mint out using a slotted spoon. Submerge them in the oil in the bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
Place the baby radishes, lettuce leaves and pea shoots in a separate bowl. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the freshly cooked peas to the bowl.
To make the dressing, whisk the mustard, vinegar and oil together in a jug until it emulsifies. Season with salt and pepper.
Pour the dressing into the salad bowl and toss. Set aside.
Cook the cavatelli in a saucepan of salted water for 2–3 minutes until cooked through. Drain, reserving a little of the pasta water.
Add the pasta to the ragù, tossing to coat the cavatelli in the sauce. Add a little of the cooking water to loosen if necessary.
Serve the ragù with a drizzle of olive oil and a generous sprinkling of Parmesan. Arrange the salad on a plate and serve alongside.
