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Sausage ragù with fennel and orange

By: Pollyanna Coupland
Food producer, delicious.

Published: 26 Jul 24
Updated: 14 Aug 24

Sausagemeat makes an incredible base for pasta sauce, especially when paired with bright southern Italian flavours like fennel and orange. The result is something lighter than a thick tomato-based ragù, but still with buckets of flavour behind it.

Find more of our sausage pasta recipe ideas here.

Easy
August 2024

Test kitchen approved

Serves 3-4
Hands-on time 35 min

Find more of our sausage pasta recipe ideas here.

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 695kcals
Fat: 33g (11g saturated)
Protein: 23g
Carbohydrates: 64g (6g sugars)
Fibre: 7.1g
Salt: 1.4g

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Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp fennel seeds
8 pork sausages (ideally Italian sausages), removed from their skins
4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
½ red chilli, finely sliced
½ fennel bulb, finely chopped and fronds reserved
1 bay leaf
Finely grated zest 1 orange, plus half its juice
200ml dry white wine
300g casarecce or similar pasta
½ bunch parsley, leaves picked and chopped

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Method

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Heat the oil in a separate large saucepan over a medium heat, then add the fennel seeds and cook for 30 seconds. Add the sausagemeat and fry, breaking it all up with a wooden spoon, until golden and caramelised (about 5 minutes). You want a mince-like texture rather than big lumps.
Add the garlic, chilli and fennel, then continue to cook for 5 minutes. Add the bay leaf and orange zest, then squeeze in the orange juice and scrape the bottom of the pan to deglaze. Pour in the wine, bring to a simmer and leave to gently bubble away while you cook the pasta.
Add the pasta to the boiling salted water and cook for 8-10 minutes (depending on how al dente – with bite – you like it). Drain, reserving a cupful of pasta water, then tip it into the ragù. Stir vigorously, adding a splash of pasta water to help create a thick sauce that clings to the casarecce. Season to taste with salt and pepper, then stir in the chopped parsley and divide among bowls.

Recipe from August 2024 Issue

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 695kcals
Fat: 33g (11g saturated)
Protein: 23g
Carbohydrates: 64g (6g sugars)
Fibre: 7.1g
Salt: 1.4g

delicious. tips

You can scale up this ragù to make larger batches – it freezes particularly well.
The ‘sauce’ in this ragù is thanks to the emulsification of the white wine, orange juice and fat from the sausages – so make sure you’re using the best quality sausages you can buy.