Name: Italian sausage & chestnut pasta
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil; 1 large onion finely chopped; 450g pack Lincolnshire sausage meat squeezed out; 200g vacuum-packed chestnut from a can or jar, very roughly chopped (see tip, below); 2 garlic cloves finely chopped; 1 tsp chopped rosemary; 1 tsp fennel seed; 1 glass full-bodied red wine; 500g carton passata; 500g large pasta shells or pappardelle; small pack curly parsley finely chopped; parmesan or Grana Padano, to serve

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Italian sausage & chestnut pasta

Italian sausage & chestnut pasta

Jane Hornby

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Serves 6

Easy

Prep: 10 mins

Cook: 30 mins

A star rating of 4.8 out of 5.89 ratingsRate

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A mix of sausagemeat and chestnut chunks creates a rich and nutty pasta sauce, lifting this from an everyday dish to something special

Freezable (sauce only)

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Ingredients

Nutrition

Units:

MetricUS

1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion

finely chopped
450g pack Lincolnshire sausage

meat squeezed out
200g vacuum-packed chestnut

from a can or jar, very roughly chopped (see tip, below)
2 garlic cloves

finely chopped
1 tsp chopped rosemary
1 tsp fennel seed
1 glass full-bodied red wine
500g carton passata
500g large pasta shells or pappardelle
small pack curly parsley

finely chopped
parmesan

or Grana Padano, to serve

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Nutrition: per serving

kcal576
fat23g
saturates7g
carbs67g
sugars11g
fibre3g
protein21g
salt1.7g

Method

step 1

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, and fry the onion for 5 mins. Once starting to soften, add the sausagemeat and chestnuts, and fry for another 10-12 mins, breaking the meat up with a wooden spatula or spoon as you fry it. Keep the heat quite high and stir often.
step 2

When the meat and chestnuts are golden brown, add the garlic, rosemary and fennel seeds, and cook for 2 mins more. Splash in the wine, let most of it boil away, then tip in the passata. Cover and simmer the sauce for 10 mins while you boil the pasta in plenty of salted water, following pack instructions.
step 3

Reserve a cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta well. Toss the pasta, 3 tbsp of the water, the ragu and most of the parsley together, then season to taste. Share between bowls, add a grinding of black pepper, the remaining parsley, then a handful of Parmesan shavings.

RECIPE TIPS

PREPARING RAW CHESTNUTS: PEELING

To peel, cut a slit in the side of each chestnut with the tip of a sharp knife, then tip a few at a time into a pan of boiling water. Boil for seven minutes, then scoop out the chestnuts onto a tea towel. As soon as they are cool enough to handle, peel off the outside shell and fibrous inner membrane.

PREPARING RAW CHESTNUTS: TROUBLESHOOTING

If your chestnuts are too hard to peel, put them in the microwave for a minute, then try again. To cook completely, put them back into the water and simmer for 30 minutes.

PREPARING RAW CHESTNUTS: ROASTING

To roast, cut a slit in each chestnut using the tip of a sharp knife. Spread over a roasting tin and cook in a hot oven for 20-30 minutes, shaking the tin occasionally, until the slits start to open out.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, October 2013

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A star rating of 4.8 out of 5.89 ratings

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