Sausage ragu is one of the first dishes I was obsessed with cooking as a teenager. I was very familiar with a spag bol at this point, and sausage ragu felt like the classier, lesser known cousin. This version I quite literally dreamt up in a daze a few mornings ago. Pork and aubergine are obviously the best of pals, and I couldn’t quite believe I hadn’t thought of smoking an aubergine and shoving it in a sausage ragu before. Anyway, we’re here now. And here is the recipe! I like using hot Calabrian sausages seasoned with chilli, but you could just use more chilli flakes if you were using regular sausages.
Serves 4
1 aubergine
6 chunky Calabrian sausages
1 onion
2 celery sticks
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 tsp chilli flakes
150ml red wine
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 chicken stock cube
small bunch of fresh parsley
Salt, pepper and olive oil
Heat your gas hob over a medium heat. Put your aubergine directly over the flame and cook for about 10 minutes, turning frequently with metal tongs so that it cooks evenly, and all sides get soft.
Meanwhile, finely dice your onion, celery and garlic.
Remove your aubergine from the flame, and set aside on a plate to cool.
Heat a large casserole dish over a medium heat. Add a 3 tbsp olive oil, then squeeze in your sausage meat, discarding the skins. Cook for about 5 minutes until the sausage is golden and the fat has rendered out, breaking the sausage chunks down with your wooden spoon.
Lift your sausage meat out of the pan with a slotted spoon. Set aside on a plate. Add your onion and celery to the same pan, and cook for 15 minutes until softened.
Add your garlic, fennel seeds and chilli flakes, then cook for 2 minutes more.
Pour your red wine into the pan, and let it totally reduce. Tip in your tinned tomatoes, sausagemeat and aubergine. Refill your empty tomato jar with water and a chicken stock cube, then pour this in too.
Bring the mixture to a simmer, and cook for 45 mins.
Finely chop your parsley. Add this to your sauce, and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve with fettuccine or tagliatelle, along with a good parmesan shower.