Sardinian Sausage Ragù

Sardinia is the second largest Italian island after Sicily, and it’s located at the left of the “boot”, under Corsica. It has its own food and traditions, and their dialect is like a whole different language to Italian! This ragù is great with gnocchi or any type of short pasta. The original recipe suggests using Pecorino cheese instead of Parmesan cheese, but you can pick the one you prefer!

Ingredients

For 4 people:

Pasta 350g

Sausages 4 (about 100g each)

Tomato passata 200g

Basil 5/6 leaves + a few for decoration

White wine 2 spoons

Fine chopped onion/shallot 1

Extra Virgin Olive Oil 2 spoons

Salt A sprinkle

Pepper A sprinkle

Grated Pecorino or parmesan 50g

Method

1. Pour the oil in a pan to cook the ragù. Add the chopped onion/shallot and let it cook for about 5/10 minutes.

2. Take the sausages out of their skin and crumble it in the pan.

3. Cook the sausage for about 10 minutes stirring often, then add white wine and put the flame slightly higher.

4. Once the wine has evaporated, lower the flame and add the tomato passata. Cover the pan but leave it a little open for the steam to go out. Let it cook for about an hour. You can add water if it dries too quickly.

5. Halfway through cooking, cut the basil in smaller pieces and put it in the sauce. Towards the end of the hour, add salt and pepper as you prefer.

6. Now cook the pasta, drain the water and add the ragù.

7. Once you have put the pasta in the plates, add the grated cheese on top and a few basil leaves, ready to serve.