Sausage Pasta Bake

I've been meaning to write about this recipe for positively ages as it's my most favourite pasta bake but until this weekend I haven't been able to get a picture of it. This time, though, I was determined to get a couple of snaps before it was all devoured and, as you can see, I succeeded.

I've always loved sausagey pasta sauces and this one works particularly well with the addition of a layer of cheesy white sauce. The sauce itself has bags of flavour thanks to the addition of red wine and tomato puree, and the inclusion of carrot and spinach make for a pretty well balanced meal.

This isn't a one-pot meal by any means as there are a number of steps involved but it's perfectly fine to prepare it a few hours in advance and leave it covered up until you're ready to put it in the oven. The sausage sauce could also be made in advance and either frozen or kept in the fridge for a couple of days.

I found this recipe in the BBC Good Food Magazine many years ago and have made it over and over since then. The perfect Sunday night dinner!

Sausage Pasta Bake

(taken from BBC Good Food Magazine long ago)

For the sausage sauce

400g good quality pork sausages

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 large carrot, grated

150ml red wine

300ml vegetable stock

3 tbsp tomato puree

For the white sauce

50g butter

50g plain flour

600ml milk

freshly grated nutmeg

500g rigatoni or penne

200g fresh spinach

140g mature cheddar, grated

1) Slit the sausages and remove them from their skins, then chop them into small pieces. Heat the oil in a pan, add the onion and fry for 5 minutes until softened and lightly browned. Stir in the sausages and fry until lightly coloured. Add the carrot, then stir in the wine, stock, tomato puree and season. Bring the sauce to the boil, the simmer uncovered, for about 15 minutes until thickened. Taste and season then set aside.

2) To make the white sauce put the butter, flour and milk in a pan. Gently heat, whisking, until thickened and smooth. Add a sprinkle of freshly grated nutmeg, season, then simmer for 2 minutes.

3) Preheat the oven to 190c/gas 5/fan 170c. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta, stir well then cook until tender. Remove from the heat, stir in the spinach and, when just wilted, drain well.

4) Tip half the pasta into a shallow ovenproof dish, about 2.2 litres/4 pints, and level. Spoon over the sausage sauce, then cover with the remaining pasta. Pour the white sauce evenly over the top and sprinkle with cheddar. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Leave for 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 6

Toad in the Hole with Roasted Onion Gravy - my go-to recipes

I love Toad in the Hole. It's just perfect for this time of year when you want something warm and comforting to round off the day. The thing I love the best about this dish though, and it's an absolute must for me, is the onion gravy to go with it.

Delia's Roasted Onion Gravy is the best I've come across so far and is super-easy to make. Plus you can make it a few hours in advance if you want to and reheat it later on while the Toad in the Hole is cooking. I didn't have so much luck with her batter recipe though (which is also included in the link below) - I found it turned out a bit flat. I hunted around for an alternative online and came across Anthony Worrall Thompson's version which I had much more success with and have stuck with ever since. It uses twice as much egg and less flour and the end result is a much poofier pudding (that's a technical term for you). Oh, but if you do ever decide to test out Delia's version I do NOT recommend you use a metal roasting tin - I found it sticks something terrible.

Here's a link to Delia's Roasted Onion Gravy (also to be found in How To Cook Book One).

Toad in the Hole

(adapted from a recipe by Anthony Worrall Thompson)

For the batter

115g/4oz plain flour

large pinch of salt

freshly ground black pepper

4 large eggs

300ml/1/2 pint milk

8 good quality sausages

2 tbsp/30g beef dripping or white vegetable fat

1) Make the batter by sifting the flour into a large bowl and adding the salt and pepper. Make a well in the centre and break in the eggs. Gradually beat the eggs into the flour then slowly beat in the milk until the batter is the consistency of double cream. Leave to sit for 30 minutes, or ideally 3-4 hours.

2) Preheat the oven to 200c/400f/gas mark 6.

3) Heat a large non-stick pan and cook the sausages over a medium heat until golden brown all over.

4) Place the dripping or vegetable fat into an ovenproof dish and put into the oven for 5 minutes or until the fat is hot and hazy. Add the sausages to the dish and pour in the batter. Immediately return the dish to the oven and cook for 35-40 minutes until well-risen and golden brown.

5) Serve with some veg on the side and lots of lovely gravy!

Serves 4-6 (note that Delia's gravy recipe only serves 2-3)

Spicy Sausage & Broccoli Tartlets with Roast Cherry Tomatoes

This recipe comes from Books for Cooks, volume 4, a collection of recipes put together by the bookshop of the same name. For more information about what is, in my opinion, one of the best shops in world, have a look at their website here.

I've tried various puff pastry tarts in the past but these ones sounded a bit different. No sauce as such to bind the filling together, just an interesting mix of sausage, tomato, broccoli and spices. I was worried at first that there was too much filling for the pastry but with a bit of gentle stretching and a couple of minor patch-ups I got them into the oven pretty much intact. And, as you can see above, they came out in one piece aswell.

The result was lovely - hearty flavours from the sausage and broccoli, a little bit of warmth from the chilli and a hint of aniseed coming through now and again thanks to the fennel seeds. I'll be making these again.

Spicy Sausage & Broccoli Tartletts with Roast Cherry Tomatoes

(adapted from Books For Cooks Volume 4 - various authors)

375g/12 oz puff pastry

300g/10oz sprouting broccoli, broccoli di rapa or broccoli

3 tbsp olive oil

350g/12oz best meaty pork sausages, skinned

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1/2 tsp fennel seeds

1/4 tsp crushed chilli flakes

12 (about 200g/7oz) ripe cherry tomatoes, halved

Salt & black pepper

4 tbsp freshly grated Pecorino or Parmesan

125g/4oz mozarella, diced

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 handful fresh basil, torn

Extra olive oil to serve

1) Preheat the oven to 200c/400f/gas mark 6. Have ready 2 floured baking sheets

2) Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a square about 30 by 30 cm (12 by 12 inches). Cut out four equal sized squares from the rolled out pastry. (If you have a box of ready rolled pastry I'd recommend rolling it out a bit further to the size mentioned above, otherwise you might struggle to fit all the filling on)

3) Cut up the broccoli into 2 1/2cm/1 inch pieces and cook in a pan of boiling salted water until just tender, from 2 to 4 minutes. Drain and straightaway refresh the broccoli pieces in plenty of cold water to preserve their nice fresh green colour, then drain well.

4) Warm the oil in a large frying pan over a medium high heat. Stir in the sausage meat, garlic, fennel and chilli. Fry quite briskly, stirring and squashing with a wooden spoon to break up the sausage meat into pieces, until nicely browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the broccoli pieces and cherry tomatoes halves and cook for another minute to flavour with the herby, spicy oil. Add salt and pepper and any extra chilli to taste (the 1/4 teaspoon of chilli flakes don't give a huge amount of heat so if you like a bit of extra kick then I would recommend you add some more).

5) Divide the sausage mixture among the pastry squares, leaving a 2cm/3/4 inch border, aiming to have a few of the tomato halves on top for the best colour, then sprinkle over the grated cheese. Fold over the pastry border onto the filling, pleating as you go.

6) Bake the tarts until the pastry is crisp and golden, about 20-25 minutes, swapping the baking sheets over half way through baking. Transfer each pie to a warmed plate, sprinkle with mozarella dice, drizzle with the balsamic vinegar and olive oil, grind over a little pepper and scatter with basil. Serve at once.

Serves 4