Recipe of the Week: Tagliatelle With Italian Sausage, Swiss Chard and Chilli

Italian sausages are delicious in a pasta sauce as they are a combination of fresh and cured pork with seasoning so they are almost like a seasoned mince. Adding the swiss chard to the sauce gives it more texture and is a great way to use chard stalks.

Italian sausages are delicious in a pasta sauce as they are a combination of fresh and cured pork with seasoning so they are almost like a seasoned mince. Adding the swiss chard to the sauce gives it more texture and is a great way to use chard stalks.

The double cream brings all the flavours together and helps the sauce stick to the pasta. If you prefer to use a dry pasta try using farfalle as it will hold the sauce really well. Have a great week!

Ingredients - Serves two main course or four starter portions

250g tagliatelle pasta

200g Italian sausages (meat removed from the skins)

6 medium leaves of swiss chard with stems (cut the stems into small matchsticks and cut the chard leaves into four)

80 g grated fresh parmesan cheese

1 small white onion or scallion finely chopped

1 clove of garlic finely sliced

Pinch of dried chilli

2 tbsp of double cream

2 tbsp of olive oil

Method

In a hot frying pan add the olive oil and add the sliced garlic white onion and the sausage meat. Cook for about five minutes so the fat comes out of the sausage and the onion is soft.

In a pot of boiling salted water add the chard stems that have been cut into matchsticks and cook until tender. Drain and put to one side, add the chard leaves to the boiling water and cook until tender. Drain and chop finely.

Drain the excess fat from the frying pan that sausages are in, then add the chard leaves and their stalks. Cook for a couple of minutes. Add the dried chilli and cream and cook on a low heat.

In a pot of boiling salted water add the tagliatelle and cook until it is al dente, then remove from the boiling water and add to the frying pan with the sausage, chard and cream. Add a ladle of the hot pasta water and cook together so the sauce gets absorbed in with the tagliatelle. Toss together so the sauce coats the pasta then check the seasoning. Serve with freshly grated parmesan and black pepper. Try this with a glass of Chianti Classico.

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