Tips - before you chop the sausages up remove the skins, they got stuck in my hand held blender and clogged it up. I also didn't use the stick of celery, I begrudged buying a whole celery for 1 stick. I'm sure it didn't make the taste any different. I couldn't find chicory in Tesco so I used Little Gem Lettuces and it was actually a really nice salad that I've made a few more times this week.
Serves 6
Pasta
4 spring onions
1 carrot
1 stick of celery
1 - 2 fresh red chillies
1 x 6 pack of good quality sausages
1 heaped tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp dried oregano
500g dried penne
4 cloves garlic
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
a few sprigs of Greek basil, or regular basil
Salad
2 red chicory
1 x 100g mixed bag of prewashed rocket and watercress
Parmesan cheese, for shaving over
1 lemon
Seasonings
olive oil
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and black pepper
Tarts
6 small deep shortcrust pastry cases
1 egg
100g ground almonds
100g butter
90g golden caster sugar
1 orange
1 tbsp vanilla paste or extract
1/2 a 350g jar of good-quality raspberry jam
1 x 250g tub of creme fraiche, to serve
Get ingredients and equipment ready. Set your oven to 190 degrees/gas mark 5. Fill and boil the kettle. Put a large frying pan on a high heat. Put the standard blade attachment into the food processor or use a hand held blender.
Pasta
Trim the spring onions, carrot and celery. Chop all the vegetables, and blitz in the food processor or with the hand held blender along with the chillies. Add the chopped up sausages, 1 heaped tsp of fennel seeds and 1 tsp of oregano. Mix well, then spoon this mixture into the hot frying pan with a splash of olive oil, breaking it up and stirring. Put a large deep saucepan on a low heat and fill with boiled water. Fill and reboil the kettle.
Tarts
Put 6 pastry cases on a baking tray. Make the frangipane mixture by cracking the egg into a mixing bowl and adding 100g of almonds, 100g of butter and 90g of golden caster sugar. Grate over the zest of 1/2 an orange and add 1 tbsp vanilla paste or extract. Mix it all together.
Spoon a small tsp of jam into each pastry base. Top with a heaped tsp of frangipane, add another small tsp of jam, and finally another heaped tsp of frangipane. Put the tray in the oven on the middle shelf and cook for exactly 18 minutes.
Pasta
Top up the saucepan with more boiled water if necessary. Season, then add the penne and cook according to packet instructions, with the lid on but leaving a small air gap.
Salad
Trim off the bases of the chicory, then pull apart the leaves and quarter the heart. Scatter over a platter, sprinkle the rocket and watercress on top and toss quickly.
Pasta
Crush 4 cloves of garlic into the sausage mixture and stir in 4 tbsp of balsamic vinegar and the tinned tomatoes. Add a little of the cooking water from the pasta to loosen if needed.
Salad
Speed peel or shave some of the Parmesan over the chicory salad and take it over to the table with a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and lemon wedges for dressing right before eating.
Pasta
Drain the pasta, reserving about a wineglass worth of the cooking water. Tip the pasta into the pan of save and give it a gentle stir, adding enough of the cooking water to bring it to a silky consistency. Taste, correct seasoning, then tip into a large serving bowl and take straight to the table with the rest of the Parmesan for grating over. Scatter over a few basil leaves.
Tarts
When the little tarts are golden and cooked, turn the oven off and take them out. Serve them warm with a dollop of creme fraiche on the side.
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