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Entries in sausages (12)

Thursday
18Feb2010

black pudding-ish pasta

 

a friend recommended the black pudding and apple sausages which waitrose sell on their deli counters. i picked up four earlier in the week and adapted the jamie oliver bloke’s pasta recipe to create a super-delish supper.

the sausages don’t have a high black pudding content but you can definitely taste its presence. i didn’t notice the apple. i added cavolo nero and cherry tomatoes for extra vegetable oomph. i also added a glug of cream as the chilli i used was hotter than i expected, which added an extra layer of richness which balanced really well with the freshness of the lemon and parsley.

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Saturday
31Oct2009

spaghetti with cavolo nero and pancetta

 

i’m loving the new autumnal vegetables that are appearing everywhere at the moment. one of my absolute favourites from last year was cavolo nero and i’ve been eating lots of it over the past few weeks. as well as having it as a side vegetable so something like sausages baked with fennel and cherry tomato, i’ve added it to risottos and pasta.

last year it was all about jamie oliver’s blokes sausage pasta, which i added the cavolo nero to. this year it’s pancetta that is the shining co-star with my black kale.

this was a very simple supper – while the spaghetti cooked i fried, in a little butter, some pancetta pieces, chilli flakes and garlic slices. cavolo nero leaves were stripped of their chewy central vein and shredded before being added to the pan with a glug of wine. the leaves quickly wilted down and i added a few sunblush tomatoes along with the cooked pasta. very quick, very simple and utterly delicious. the same flavours work well in a risotto.

i'm sharing this with ruth who is hosting this week's presto pasta nights!

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Wednesday
14Oct2009

sausage, mushroom and sun-blush tomato mafaldine 

sausages and pasta is a combination which i’ve grown to love. the addition of fennel – a bulb or seeds, preferably both – usually guarantees that i’ll try a recipe and that it will be a hit with both david and i. as a result there are lots of fennelly sausage pasta recipes on here (have a look), and here’s another! 

this was quickly pulled together from a very empty fridge – mushrooms were the only fresh vegetables we had in but thankfully there was a handful of sun-blushed tomatoes to lift things.

this is my contribution to presto pasta nights which, this week, is being hosted by me!

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Monday
12Oct2009

roasted sausages with fennel and tomato

a couple of years ago i came up with a recipe for roasted sausages with fennel and cherry tomatoes. it is incredibly quick, easy and packed full of flavour.

i love it with crusty bread smeared with butter. last night we had it with a side portion of cavolo nero cooked with garlic and chilli.

the original recipe for the sausages is here but it is something you can adapt according to what you fancy. this time i tossed sausages (i still rate marks & spencer sausages as particularly good), cherry tomatoes and sliced fennel with  glugs of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and red wine. a sprinkling of chopped rosemary, dried oregano, a bay leaf, garlic, salt and pepper were the extra bits needed. an hour in the over at 200c and the result was truly delicious. you really should try it.

Wednesday
21Jan2009

sausage, spinach and fennel with linguine

as for many people, january is a time of year when i think about healthy eating. often i use this month to detox, cutting out booze, caffeine and junk, however, this year i know that i haven’t got the willpower so i’m sticking to the simple aim of trying to boost my fruit and vegetable intake.

 

spinach is an absolute life-saver when it comes to this, as there are very few dishes which can’t cope with having a handful or two of spinach wilted in (unless, of course, you’re a member of the great spinach-hating clan who liken its cooked texture and flavour to wet socks!).

 

this dish ticks the hearty meaty meal box but has the added advantage of including several portions of vegetables which will ease any new year guilt that you might be feeling about what you are eating.

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