White sausage ragù
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
White sausage ragù
This creamy slow-cook sausage ragù is flavoured with fennel, white wine and sage. Toss through pasta and shower with grated parmesan for next-level comfort
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our Head of Food. She loves the precision and creativity of baking, turning fridge odds-and-ends into a weeknight pasta, and is always bookmarking new restaurants to try. She's happiest hosting friends around a table overflowing with food (and insisting everyone has seconds) or planning holidays around what to eat.
Abigail Spooner
Abi is our Head of Food. She loves the precision and creativity of baking, turning fridge odds-and-ends into a weeknight pasta, and is always bookmarking new restaurants to try. She's happiest hosting friends around a table overflowing with food (and insisting everyone has seconds) or planning holidays around what to eat.
Ingredients
- 100g diced pancetta
- 1 x 454g pack reduced-fat Cumberland sausages
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 medium carrot, finely chopped
- 1 fennel bulb, finely chopped
- 1½ tsp fennel seeds, crushed using a pestle and mortar
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 sprig sage, leaves finely chopped
- 200ml white wine
- 200ml chicken stock
- 150ml double cream
To serve
- 400g pappardelle (or pasta of choice)
- parmesan, finely grated (optional)
Step by step
- Tip the pancetta into a large sauté pan or casserole. Set over a medium-high heat and cook until the fat renders and the pancetta is crisp and golden (12-14 minutes). Meanwhile, split open the sausages, discard the skins and roughly chop the meat. Use a slotted spoon to remove the pancetta to a bowl. Add the oil and sausagemeat to the pan and fry for 10-12 minutes until browned, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. Remove to the bowl of pancetta with the slotted spoon and set aside.
- Reduce the pan to a medium-low heat. Add the onion, carrot, fennel and a good pinch of salt to the fat remaining in the pan, then cook for about 15 minutes until softened. Stir in the fennel seeds, garlic and sage for the final 2 minutes. Return the meat to the pan, then pour over the wine and bubble until reduced by about half. Pour in the stock and cream. Season with black pepper, then cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Uncover and simmer gently for a further 30-45 minutes, until thickened.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to pack instructions. Drain, return to the pan and toss through half the sausage ragù. Divide among bowls, spoon over the remaining ragù and scatter with parmesan, if liked, and extra black pepper to serve.
