As far as I’m concerned there’s no such thing as too many pasta recipes. For me, pasta is always a great idea and typically what I turn to when I want something delicious and satisfying. Bucatini is an interesting pasta shape that I don’t really use very often enough. It’s a long pasta, like spaghetti, but quite thick with a hole in the middle – it’s a bit like a long tube. Actually, it looks like a straw. If you can’t find bucatini, please don’t let that stop you – any long pasta will work with this recipe and failing that, I won’t even judge you if you use a short shape. The sauce is so good and it will taste great with any pasta you have on-hand.
You’ll notice there’s no salt in this recipe aside from salting the pasta water and that’s because there’s not only likely to be seasoning in the sausages, but also a massive heap of Parmesan cheese stirred into the sauce which brings with it a seasoning of salt and umami. You’re also getting salt from the stock cube or pot and the Worcestershire sauce, so please do take care if you decide to add more salt.
I’ve suggested Cumberland sausages here because I love the peppery flavour it brings to the dish, but you can use any sausages you like. For example, you might choose a chicken or turkey sausage, which would absolutely work or if you like something less peppery and more herby, try Lincolnshire sausages. Feel free to experiment and enjoy the different flavour combinations, but I will warn you – -f you’re using a spicy sausage that packs a punch of heat or making this recipe for children, I’d suggest leaving out the chilli flakes as it might be too much heat.
This recipe will make two great big bowls of pasta, but you can easily feed four people with it, especially if you have anything on the side like maybe some vegetables or a salad and bread. Let’s get started!
Serves 2 – 4
Ingredients
- 250g Bucatini (you can also use spaghetti, linguine, malfade or any long pasta)
- 25g butter
- 1 tablespoon garlic oil or regular olive oil
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional – see notes above)
- 400g Cumberland sausages (or sausages of your choice), casings removed and meat crumbled
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- Glug of white wine
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 beef stock cube or stock pot
- 400g passata
- 100g Parmesan cheese plus more to serve
- Torn fresh basil to serve (optional)
Method
- Cook the pasta according to packet instructions in boiling salted water with a little oil in it. You want the pasta slightly al dente, so be sure to check on it a couple of minutes before the end of the suggested cooking time. Before you strain the pasta, be sure to reserve a coffee cup full of the starchy pasta cooking water to use in the sauce.
- While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce. Start by adding the butter and oil to a large frying pan over medium heat. When it’s hot, add the garlic and chilli flakes. Cook stirring for a minute or two until the garlic softens.
- Add the sausage meat, increase the heat to medium-high and use a wooden spoon to break it up. Cook the sausage, pushing it around the pan with a wooden spoon until all of the meat is browned. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for another minute or two, making sure it’s coating everything.
- Slosh in a good glug of white wine and as it bubbles, scrape up any flavourful brown bits off the bottom of the pan (this is called deglazing). Let this bubble away a little bit for a minute or two. It will start to reduce and look thicker.
- Stir in the Worcestershire sauce and the beef stock cube or pot and once that’s all incorporated nicely, pour in the passata. Slosh a little bit of water in the jar to shake out all the dregs into the pan. Bring this to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low or low. Stir in the 100g of Parmesan cheese and leave this to simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. If at any time it starts to look a little too thick or too dry, just add a little water and stir it through.
- Add the pasta to the sauce along with a little of the pasta cooking water. Add this water just a little at a time until the sauce is nicely clinging to the pasta and you have the right consistency.
- Serve hot, sprinkled with some shredded Parmesan cheese and torn fresh basil leaves.
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