This recipe just sort of happened one day with some ingredients I had leftover in my fridge. Some of the best dishes come from necessity to use up odds and ends and this gorgeous bowl of pasta does not disappoint. With the heartiness of sausage & pasta, cooling mint, chilli heat, the pungent garlic and the tart lemon, all the flavours come together to create something that seems too sophisticated to be called comfort food, and yet that’s exactly what it is.
I’ve chosen Cumberland sausages here because their peppery flavour lends itself well to pasta dishes, but the beauty of this recipe is that you can use any sausages you like. My only suggestion would be to perhaps skip the chilli flakes or use them quite sparingly if you opt for a fiery variety of sausage so that the heat isn’t too overwhelming.
Quick and easy to prepare, this is your new favourite weeknight dinner. Let’s get started!
Serves 2 as a main dish or 4 as a starter.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- Pinch of chilli flakes
- 1 tablespoon dried mint
- Zest & juice of 1 unwaxed lemon
- 1 tablespoon tomato pureé
- 400g cumberland sausages, removed from the skins and the meat crumbled
- 250g orzo pasta
- 850ml chicken stock
- Generous handful of fresh mint, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
- 25g butter
- Additional mint leaves to garnish (optional)
Method
- Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large lidded, heavy based, flame-proof pan. When the oil is hot, toss in the minced garlic and cook gently, stirring for one minute.
- Add the chilli flakes, the lemon zest and dried mint. Stir to combine this fragrant mix and then stir in the tomato pureé. It should form a fragrant paste.
- Now add your crumbled sausage meat and use a wooden spoon to stir it, coating the meat with the paste, breaking up any chunky bits as best you can. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally until the sausage is mostly cooked through.
- Turn up the heat to medium-high and pour in the lemon juice to deglaze the pan, stirring the whole time. Now add the orzo and stir to coat.
- Pour in the chicken stock. It should be enough to just cover the pasta. If you don’t have enough, add a bit more chicken stock or water. Season with salt and a good, generous grinding of black pepper and stir to combine everything. Bring to the boil and then immediately reduce the heat to low, pop on the lid and leave this to cook for about 7 minutes.
- After the 7 minutes, stir in 2/3 of the chopped fresh mint. Put the lid back on and continue cooking, covered for another 5 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the pasta is cooked to al dente.
- When the pasta is done, remove the casserole from the heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese and butter.
- Ladle the pasta into dishes and sprinkle the rest of your chopped mint from a height over the pasta. Garnish with two whole mint leaves if you’re using them and serve hot.
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