Sausage and pasta are a match made in heaven and this recipe came from a need to use up a pack of chipolatas I had loitering in the fridge. Chipolata Pasta is easy to make and it’s so delicious. It’s the perfect weeknight dinner, especially when all you want is a bowl of flavourful pasta on the couch in front of your favourite TV show. It’s comfort food at it’s finest!
I used gemelli pasta here because I absolutely love this shape and it’s perfect for holding sauce in its little swirly crevices. That said, you could absolutely substitute a number of short pasta shapes to make this dish including penne, fusilli, orecchiette, casarecce or conchiglie. There are loads of options available, so feel free to experiment with your favourite.
In terms of what to serve with Chipolata Pasta, I love it on its own if I’m just feeding the two of us, but it could definitely stretch to feed 4 people with some side dishes. Garlic bread and Chilli Garlic Green Beans would be my choice, but any green vegetable you prefer on the side would work.
The chilli in this recipe gives it such a nice kick, but if you’re serving Chipolata Pasta to any little ones, I’d suggest omitting it because it might be too much for their little taste buds. You could always sprinkle some flakes across the top after the fact at serving time for the adults so the kiddos don’t get overwhelmed with chilli heat. Let’s get started!
Serves 2 to 4, depending on side dishes served
Ingredients
- 300g gemelli pasta (or other short pasta shape of your choice such as fusilli or penne)
- 25g unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons garlic oil (or regular olive oil)
- 340g chipolata sausages, skins removed and meat crumbled
- 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)
- 1 teaspoon dried mint
- Zest & juice of 1 lemon
- 1 chicken stock pot or cube
- 500g passata
- 1 tablespoon white sugar or caster sugar
- Salt & pepper
- 30g grated Parmesan cheese, plus more to serve
Method
- Put a large pot of salted water with a drop of oil on to boil and cook the pasta according to packet instructions, checking it a minute or two before the end of the suggested cooking time to achieve the desired consistency. I like mine slightly al dente. When it’s done, reserve a cup of the pasta cooking water and strain the pasta. Keep in the pot with the lid on to keep it warm.
- Meanwhile, you can start with the sauce. Melt the butter and oil in a large pan that has a lid on medium heat until it starts to sizzle a bit. Add the sausage meat and cook while stirring until browned, breaking it up as you go with a wooden spoon.
- Add the chilli flakes, dried mint and lemon zest. Give it a stir.
- Now add the lemon juice and the stock pot or cube and stir again to deglaze the pan. If you’re using a stock pot, stir it around until it melts a bit into the meat mixture.
- Pour in the passata along with about 1/3 of the container of water to get the dregs and thin it out a little. Stir in the sugar and season lightly with salt & pepper (you can always add more later if needed). Bring this to a boil and then pop on the lid, reduce the heat and simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occastionally.
- After the 15 to 20 minutes is up and when your pasta is cooked & strained (if it’s not, don’t worry – you can simmer this sauce for a while), add the 30g of Parmesan cheese to the sauce and stir to combine allowing it to melt into the red sauce. Check the seasoning here and adjust if necessary.
- Now add the pasta to the sauce and stir to coat it. Add a little bit of the starchy pasta water to help it cling to the sauce or to thin it out a little if it’s too dry. Only add this water about a table spoon at a time to avoid making the sauce too wet. Once the pasta is stirred into the sauce and well-coated it’s time to serve. Serve hot, sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese and a crack of black pepper.
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