Sausage and tomato pasta in 30 minutes

Why this works

Sausages sliced into coins brown on two cut faces instead of one curved skin, so there is far more colour and they cook through in the time the pasta boils. The fat they give off softens the onion and garlic, so the sauce starts with the flavour of the sausage.

Passata cooks into a smooth sauce in under 10 minutes, without the long simmer chopped tomatoes need. A splash of the starchy cooking water helps it cling to the fusilli in a thin, glossy coat instead of pooling on the plate.

Key ingredients

• Pork sausages. A meaty, well seasoned sausage such as Cumberland or Toulouse. A high meat content keeps the slices in neat coins.
• Passata. Sieved tomatoes, sold in cartons and bottles. It makes a smooth sauce fast. A tin of chopped tomatoes works with a few minutes more simmering.
• Fusilli. The spirals hold the sauce in their twists. Penne or rigatoni work the same way.
• Fresh thyme. Stripped leaves go into the sauce and over the top. Use a pinch of dried thyme if that is all you have.

Amounts for 2 to 12 people are in the recipe card below, in grams or cups.

Method

1. 01

   Boil the water

   Fill a large pot with water, cover and bring it to the boil over a high heat, starting with water from the kettle. Salt it well.

2. 02

   Slice and chop

   Cut the sausages into coins about 1 cm thick and chop the onion. Peel the garlic and roll it back and forth in the chopper until fine.

   Rolling Garlic Chopper
3. 03

   Strip the thyme

   Push each thyme sprig through the smallest hole of the stripper that fits and pull. The leaves gather on the near side.

   Herb & Kale Stripper
4. 04

   Brown the sausages

   Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium high heat. Add the sausage slices in one layer and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, turning once, until browned on both sides.

5. 05

   Cook the pasta

   Tip the fusilli into the boiling water and cook for 1 minute less than the packet says, stirring once or twice.

6. 06

   Make the sauce

   Add the onion to the sausages and cook for 4 minutes until soft. Stir in the garlic, half the thyme and the tomato purée for 1 minute, then pour in the passata. Simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, until the sauce thickens and the sausage is cooked through to 75°C. Season to taste.

7. 07

   Drain and toss

   Scoop out a mug of the cooking water, then drain the fusilli with the clip on strainer. Tip it into the sauce with a splash of the water and toss for 1 minute until glossy. Serve with the rest of the thyme and the parmesan.

   Clip-On Pot Strainer

What to serve it with

A bitter leaf salad of radicchio and frisée with a sharp dressing, or warm garlic bread. For another Sausage Week dinner, try the sausages with onion gravy and mash.

Storing and reheating

Fridge

Cool quickly, cover and eat within 2 days.

Freezer

Freeze the sauce on its own for up to 3 months. Cooked pasta turns soft once thawed.

Reheat

In a pan over a medium heat with a splash of water, stirring until piping hot.

Questions