Pork and Fennel Meatballs
with Linguine and Parmesan
Nick ‘the Knife’ our butcher has been getting quite the reputation for his sausages up in Lancashire. When Patrick, Ed and Luke made a visit to the Roaming Roosters farm recently, you’d think there was about to be a sausage shortage, as people were queuing right out the door! Fortunately, we’ve got a few connections, so we managed to snag some Tuscan sausages for tonight’s dinner!
Ingredients
1
Chopped Tomatoes
250
Tuscan Pork Sausage
10
Flat Leaf Parsley
½
Onion
200
Linguine
1
Garlic Clove
20
Parmesan Cheese
½
Fennel Seeds
Utensils
Instructions
Put a large saucepan of water with a pinch of salt on to boil for the pasta. Peel and grate the garlic (or use a garlic press). Halve, peel and thinly slice the onion into half moons. Roughly chop the parsley (stalks and all). Roll the sausage meat into three meatballs per person.
Heat a splash of oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat. Add in the meatballs. Fry, turning occasionally until browned all over, 5-6 mins. Remove to a plate and set aside - keep the pan!
Put a large saucepan on medium heat with a splash of oil. Add the onion and cook until soft, 5 mins. Add the garlic and the fennel seeds and cook for a further minute.
Add the diced tomatoes to the pan, refill the tin(s) a quarter with water, give it a good swirl around to get all the tomato out and add this to the pan, along with a pinch of salt, pepper and a sprinkle of sugar (if you have some). Gently return the meatballs to the pan and simmer over medium-low heat until the sauce is thick and tomatoey, 6-8 mins.
Meanwhile, add the linguine to the boiling pan of water and cook for 6 mins or until ‘al dente’, then drain in a colander. TIP: ‘Al dente’ simply means the pasta is cooked through, but has a tiny bit of firmness left in the middle.
Serve the meatballs and the rich tomato sauce piled on top of the linguine. Add a sprinkling of parsley and grate over the parmesan cheese. Tuck in!
