Sausage & Chilli Rigatoni & Breadcrumbs

Serves 2
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 35 minutes

Ingredients

Sausage & Chilli Rigatoni

• 250g rigatoni

• 300g good-quality pork sausages

• 1 medium onion

• 2 garlic cloves

• 1 tsp chilli flakes

• 1 tbsp tomato purée

• 100ml dry white wine

• 100ml chicken stock

• 40g parmesan

• 1 tsp lemon juice

Crispy Garlic Breadcrumbs

• 40g breadcrumbs

• 1 garlic clove, finely grated

• Zest of 1 lemon

Method

1. Brown the sausage

Remove the sausage meat from its skins and tear it into rough bite-sized pieces.

Heat a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the sausage and cook for 6–8 minutes, turning occasionally, until deeply browned with plenty of caramelised edges.

Transfer the sausage to a plate, leaving the rendered fat in the pan.

2. Cook the onion

Peel the onion, halve it and slice it thinly.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the onion to the sausage fat. Cook for 10–12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until completely soft, golden and beginning to turn jammy.

If the pan starts to look dry, add a small splash of olive oil.

3. Build the sauce

Peel and finely chop the garlic cloves.

Add the garlic and chilli flakes to the onion and cook for 1 minute.

Stir in the tomato purée and cook for another 2 minutes, allowing it to darken slightly and begin to caramelise.

Pour in the white wine, increase the heat to medium-high and bubble for 2–3 minutes, scraping up any caramelised bits from the bottom of the pan.

Add the chicken stock and return the browned sausage to the pan.

Reduce the heat and leave the sauce to simmer gently while you cook the pasta.

4. Cook the rigatoni

Bring a large pan of well-salted water to the boil.

Add the rigatoni and cook until around 2 minutes shy of al dente.

While the pasta cooks, make the breadcrumbs.

5. Make the crispy garlic breadcrumbs

Peel and finely grate the garlic clove.

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a small frying pan over a medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and cook for 3–4 minutes, stirring regularly, until golden and crisp.

Add the grated garlic and cook for a further 30–60 seconds, stirring constantly, until fragrant.

Finely grate over the lemon zest, toss everything together and remove from the heat.

6. Finish the pasta

Before draining the rigatoni, reserve a mugful of the pasta cooking water.

Transfer the pasta directly into the frying pan with the sausage sauce.

Add around 75ml of the reserved pasta water and toss over a medium heat for 1–2 minutes, allowing the rigatoni to finish cooking and the sauce to emulsify and cling to the pasta.

Add another splash of pasta water if needed.

Finely grate the Parmesan.

Reduce the heat to low, add the Parmesan a little at a time and toss continuously until melted into the sauce and glossy.

Cut the lemon in half and squeeze around 1 tbsp of juice into the pasta. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper and toss again.

Taste before adding any salt, as the sausage, stock and Parmesan will already provide plenty.

7. Serve

Divide the rigatoni between two bowls.

Finish generously with the crispy garlic breadcrumbs, a little extra Parmesan and more chilli flakes if you want extra heat.

Serve with Cheesy Garlic Tear & Share