members recipes

Ingredients
200 grms whole middle bacon (just ask your butcher to slice a piece of bacon 2cm thick)
6-8 quality beef sausages
1 white onion finely diced
3 cloves of garlic sliced thinly
1 good sized hot chilli finely chopped (add more according to how spicy you like it)
1 glass of red wine
1-2 tbsps of butter
2 tbsps olive oil
2 x 800grm tinned tomatoes
6 cooked brussels sprouts sliced (optional , these were left overs but a yummy addition)
1 tbsp dry basil
1 tbsp dry oregano
salt and pepper
200mls cream (or 100ml if you plan on freezing half the sauce, see note)
pecorino cheese to serve (parmesan is also fine)
2x 500grm packs of penne

Method
Cut bacon into chunks about ½ the size of your little finger, skin sausages and break up roughly with fingers into ½ inch pieces. Heat a little oil in a pan and fry off sausage pieces until turning golden, remove and drain on paper towel. Tip off any excess fat and melt butter and a little oil in the pan, fry bacon until they also start turning golden brown, remove and add to sausages on paper towel. Leave enough bacon fat in the pan to fry off remaining ingredients. Add onion to the pan and cook until translucent then add chilli and garlic and fry for a minute, pour in wine and scape all of the lovely flavour off the bottom of the pan, simmer the wine until it is mostly gone. Now add tomatoes, brussel sprouts, oregano, basil and salt and pepper to taste, don’t be shy with the pepper. Simmer slowly with lid on for about an hour. Cook penne until aldente, take the sauce off the heat and add cream. Mix most of the sauce with your penne, reserving some to top your pasta and sprinkle with grated pecorino cheese.

Note: I did not add sugar to counteract the acidity in this dish because my sausages had such a lovely sweet flavour as did the wine, I used a cabernet merlot. I loved sharpness of the tomato with the sweetness of the wine and sausage. If you want to use this for 4 people put aside ½ of the sauce to freeze before adding the cream.