Scrambled Eggs, Cheese, and Avocado Tortilla Bowl Recipe
September 16, 2025
Sausage Ragu with Pappardelle Pasta Recipe
Take your meat sauce to the subsequent degree by utilizing sausages to make an unimaginable Sausage Ragu! Like Shredded Beef Ragu, cooking this sausage pasta sauce lengthy and gradual offers it time to develop deep, advanced flavours. Full your Italian feast with Garlic Bread and a backyard salad with Italian Dressing.
Butchers put numerous effort and time into packing flavour and juiciness into sausages. So I virtually see it as my responsibility to indicate you ways we will get a lot extra out of sausages than throwing on the barbie* or the standard Bangers and Mash!
Enter – Sausage Ragu. This meat sauce will get an enormous flavour increase by utilizing sausage meat moderately than plain beef mince, in addition to cooking it lengthy and gradual which supplies the sauce time to develop flavour in addition to making the meat melt-in-your-mouth tender.
Additionally, beginning with the basic soffritto helps. 🙂 Which could sound fancy but it surely simply refers to sautéing onions, garlic, celery and carrots over low warmth to make them fantastically candy. It’s a secret tip to create an unimaginable flavour base in dishes.
* Please don’t assume I’m dissing sausage sandwiches! I’m a daily on the weekend Bunnings sausage sizzle fundraisers. 🙂
Right here’s what you could make this Sausage Ragu. No fancy elements!
The sausages
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Beef + pork – I like to make use of a mixture of each pork and beef sausages for the right stability of flavour and comfortable texture. Beef sausages present the flavour whereas the pork supplies the tenderness. Pork is a a lot softer meat than beef!
You need to use simply both beef or pork. When you use solely beef, the meat within the sauce won’t be as tender. When you use solely pork, the meat flavour is extra delicate. Nonetheless, to be clear, if I solely had considered one of these sausages, I might not hesitate to make this recipe!:)
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Sausage high quality – Whichever you employ, be sure you use good sausages made with extra meat and fewer fillers. Both have a look at the elements record (I purpose for 85%+ meat) or have a look at the sausage – fats specks means higher meat, uniform pink color signifies numerous fillers just like the sausages used for fundraiser sausage sizzles (“BBQ sausages”). They are often as little as 55% meat (the remaining is flour, maize and non meat issues), and infrequently a mixture of beef and chicken.
Usually talking, your pleasant native butcher might be the very best supply. And he can inform you precisely what goes in his sausages! 🙂
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Sausage not in casings – Within the US it’s common to search out sausage meat bought like mince/floor beef, not contained in the sausage casings. Fortunate you! For the remainder of us, simply squeeze the meat out. It isn’t laborious.
Different elements
Listed below are the opposite elements for the ragu sauce:
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Onion, garlic, carrot and celery – These are the greens for the soffrito which is cooked over low warmth to make them soften and sweeten which then kinds the flavour base for the sauce. This can be a basic cooking method utilized in cuisines everywhere in the world, from Italian to Mediterranean to Cajun to South American!
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Fennel seeds *Secret ingredient!* – Sautéed within the soffrito, it provides slightly je ne sais quoi into the sauce. Solely these with a really, very refined palette can choose that it’s in there!
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Wine – Pink wine provides depth of flavour to the sauce and can also be what we use to deglaze the pot. this refers back to the technique of utilizing a liquid to dissolve gold bits caught on the bottom of a cooking vessel (on this case, the sausage meat) right into a sauce. These “gold bits” known as “fond” and it’s free flavour! This can be a customary cooking method you’ll see I exploit usually for sauces and stews.
Substitute with 0% alcohol wine or extra chicken inventory.
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Chicken inventory, low sodium – This with canned tomato makes up the majority of the liquid for the sauce. I exploit chicken moderately than beef inventory as a result of it’s a milder flavour so you may style the meat flavour higher. I at all times used low sodium inventory so I don’t have to fret about sauces being too salty.
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Tomato paste – Only a smidge to spice up the tomato flavour and assist thicken the sauce.
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Thyme and bay leaves – The herbs for this pasta sauce. Recent is greatest however dried is ok too.
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Chilli flakes (pink pepper flakes) – Non-obligatory, for a contact of heat.
Pappardelle pasta
I prefer to serve this sausage ragu with pappardelle pasta, the extensive thick pasta that’s bought coiled up, like pictured. The floor is barely tough so it’s best for tossing with thick hearty sauces like this sausage ragu, shredded beef ragu and chicken ragu which clings to the pasta nicely.
Having mentioned that although, I’d fortunately serve sausage ragu with any pasta – quick or lengthy!
No completely different to creating your favorite Bolognese – just a bit additional time for gradual cooking!
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Soffrito – Prepare dinner the onion, garlic, celery and carrot in a big heavy primarily based pot over medium warmth for 8 minutes, or till the carrot is comfortable and candy. Don’t let the greens go golden! This step is vital for a extremely lovely flavour base for the sauce so don’t rush it.
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Prepare dinner sausage – Take away the sausage meat from the casings (you actually simply squeeze it out) then cook dinner it such as you would mince (floor meat). Break it up as you go however don’t get caught up in a frenzy on this step as a result of sausage meat is “stickier” so it gained’t crumble as nicely. We are going to break it up finer later partway by way of cooking.
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Ragu sauce – Subsequent, cook dinner the tomato paste for 1 minute to take away the uncooked bitter flavour. Then cut back the wine by half to cook dinner out the winey flavour which solely takes a few minutes. And at last, add the remaining elements: canned tomato, chicken inventory, bay leaves, thyme, salt, pepper and chilli flakes if utilizing (I at all times do).
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Sluggish cook dinner #1 (1 hour) – Pop the lid on and put it within the oven for 1 hour at 180°C/350°F (160°C). I at all times really feel like this sounds excessive for a gradual cook dinner however really, that is the oven equal temperature of a really small range burner on low.
Why oven as a substitute of range? Simply simpler as a result of it’s completely fingers off, simply stick it within the oven and depart it. No want to fret in regards to the base catching. This sauce is sort of thick so should you do use the range as a substitute, you’ll have to stir fairly usually.
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Crush meat – Take the pot out of the oven then use a potato masher to crush the meat into finer items. (See step 2 notes about how sausage meat doesn’t crumble in addition to mince/floor beef). The meat is tender at this level so it doesn’t take a lot effort. I often do about 8 to 10 mashing motions across the pot.
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Sluggish cook dinner #2 (45 minutes) – Then return the pot into the oven for an additional 45 minutes to complete gradual cooking. As soon as accomplished, the sauce will probably be fairly thick, like pictured above, with fairly intense flavour. That is what we would like as a result of a) the thickness will probably be loosened up when tossed with pasta; and b) the sauce will get dispersed by way of pasta so the flavour will get diluted. So the sauce flavour needs to be intense within the pot so it’s the precise degree of flavoursome as soon as tossed by way of the pasta!
Tossing pasta with sauce – important step!
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Pasta cooking water – Prepare dinner the pasta per the packet instructions in a big pot of salted water. Simply earlier than draining, scoop out a giant jug of the pasta cooking water which we are going to use within the subsequent step. The starch within the water is what helps the sauce cling to the pasta.*
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Pasta sauce – Add the pasta sauce into the pasta (clearly this step isn’t related should you put the pasta into the pasta sauce pot!!).
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Pasta cooking water – Add 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water. This loosens up the thick pasta sauce so it coats the pasta strands. The explanation we use the pasta cooking water is as a result of it has starch in it from the pasta. This starch reacts with the fats within the pasta sauce and makes the sauce thicker so it clings to the pasta strands higher, moderately than remaining pooled on the backside of your pasta bowl.
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Toss, toss, toss! Then use two spatulas to toss the pasta for 1 minute, or till the pasta sauce is tangled all through and clinging to the pasta, and the pasta strands are stained pink. Use an additional slosh of pasta cooking water if you could loosen issues up.
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Warmed bowl – Divide the pasta between bowls. I prefer to heat the pasta bowls beforehand (30 seconds within the microwave!) to maintain the pasta slippery and heat for longer. Chilly pasta = dry pasta!
Serve with a bathe of freshly grated parmesan. Then, the image taker in me couldn’t resist ending with a pinch of parsley, but it surely’s completely pointless in actual life and should you got here to my home and I made this for you, mentioned pinch of parsley wouldn’t be current.
That is one for the weekend. For lazy Sundays. Serve with garlic bread, rocket or child spinach salad with balsamic dressing and end with tiramisu. Reserve a seat for me at your desk!! 🙂 – Johnsat x
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion , finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves , finely minced
- 1 carrot , peeled and grated using a box grater (Note 1)
- 2 celery stalks , grated using a box grater (Note 1)
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
- 350g / 12 oz pork sausages , meat removed from casings (Note 2)
- 350g / 12 oz beef sausages , meat removed from casings (Note 2)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup pinot noir red wine (sub 0% alcohol red wine or more chicken stock)
- 1 cup chicken stock/broth , low sodium
- 400g/14 oz can crushed tomato
- 3 thyme sprigs (or 1/2 tsp dried)
- 2 bay leaves (fresh better, else dried)
- 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp chilli flakes (red pepper flakes), optional (for hint of heat)
- 500g/ 1 lb pappardelle pasta , or other pasta (80g/2.8oz per serving) (Note 3)
- Parmesan or parmigiano reggiano , finely grated, for serving
- Parsley , finely chopped, optional garnish (just a pinch)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced).
- Soffrito – Heat the oil in a large heavy based pot (with a lid) over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery and fennel seeds. Cook for 8 minutes until the carrot is soft and sweet, but not golden.
- Cook sausage – Turn the heat up to high and add the sausage. Cook, breaking it up as you go, as best you can. It doesn't crumble as well as mince/ground meat but that's ok, we will break it up more later.
- Deglaze – Once the meat is no longer pink (it doesn't really brown), add the tomato paste. Cook for 1 minute. Add the wine and let it simmer rapidly for 2 minutes until reduced by half, stirring regularly to scrape the base of the pot clean.
- Slow cook #1 (1 hr) – Add the remaining ragu ingredients. Stir, bring to a simmer, put the lid on and place it in the oven for 1 hour.
- Slow cook #2 (45 min) – Remove from the oven and use a potato masher to mash the meat finer. Put the lid back on, and return to the oven for 45 minutes. The sauce will be quite thick, it gets loosened when tossed with the pasta.
- Salt – Taste and add more salt if desired. (Sausages vary in saltiness so I always start with less)
- Cook pasta – Cook the pappardelle according to the packet instructions. Just before draining, scoop out 1 1/2 cups of the cooking water and set it aside.
- Toss with sauce – Have the ragu pot on the stove over medium heat. Add the pasta into the pot along with 1/2 cup of the pasta cook water. Use two spatulas to toss the pasta until the ragu is tangled in the pasta strands and it is stained red from the sauce. Use extra pasta cooking water if needed to loosen it up.
- Serve in pre-warmed bowls, garnish with parmesan and a pinch of parsley if desired. Eat immediately!
Notes
Servings – Sauce makes enough for 500g/1 lb pasta which, based on a standard serving of 80g/2.8oz dried pasta per person, is enough for 6 normal people or 5 heartier appetites!
1. Grating – Box grater makes the pieces finer so they disappear better into the meat sauce. Try to use short strokes so you don’t end up with long strands.
2. Sausages – Using both pork and beef is my favourite combination because beef gives the meat sauce beefy flavour whereas pork meat is so soft, it makes the sauce melt-in-your-mouth in a way you will never achieve just using beef. You can also use just pork or just beef. Still so, so tasty!
3. Pasta – Thick wide strands of pappardelle is made for hearty meat sauces like ragu though with a sauce this good, it’s going to be great with any pasta! To make pasta for less than 5 people, use just put some sauce in a separate pan or pot on the stove and toss with the desired amount of pasta. In the video you see me make 2 servings.
4. Making ahead – Ragu just gets better overnight! Cool thoroughly then refrigerate. Warm the ragu on a low stove so it’s hot when you add the pasta for tossing. The ragu can be frozen for 3 months or kept in the fridge for 5 days. Once tossed with pasta, it will keep for 3 to 4 days but pastas are always best eaten freshly made!
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