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4 thick pork sausages cut into chunks

200g fresh tagliatelle - click here to see how to make your own

150g drained sun dried tomatoes

2 tablespoons of pine nuts

1 chilli deseeded and chopped

1 garlic clove peeled

A handful of fresh basil leaves

4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Chilli pesto pasta with crispy sausage

preparation 6 mins • you cook for 12 mins •

Serves 2

Watch a 30 second preview of my cook-along video below

If you cannot view the video below, click here to download QuickTime from Apple's website.

 

This is a great dish for a quick weeknight meal. Homemade pesto is a delight. Not an E number in sight, the taste is so fresh and vibrant. The ribbons of tagliatelle pick up all the fresh flavours whilst the sausages add a lovely homeliness. With the heat of chilli running through it, your winter weeknight will be instantly warmer! You can also freeze the excess pesto for use when you make this again!

Frying pan/wok to cook the sausages

Large pan of salted boiling water for the pasta

Food processor to make the pesto

Spatula

Spoons to stir

Colander to drain the pasta

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Before you start, have the sausages chopped and next to the hob along with the pasta. Have the other ingredients out and next to the food processor. Put a large pan of salted boiling water on the hob. Put your other pan on a high heat to get nice and hot and click here!

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Put a large pan of salted boiling water on the hob and your frying pan/wok on a high heat. Add a glug of oil to your frying pan and then add the sausages, give them a stir and turn the heat down to medium (I use the smallest hob burner on full). Cook for 5 minutes whilst you make the pesto.

Add the tomatoes, garlic, pine nuts, basil & chilli to your food processor and give it a blitz for 10 seconds. Add in 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive and blitz again to bind together. Hopefully it should look something like the 3rd photo on the right!

Give the sausages a stir around the pan and they should be getting some nice colour on them. When they've had 5 minutes, drop the pasta into the boiling water and stir. Cook the pasta for about 2 minutes until it has softened but still retains a bite to it (al dente!). Whilst the pasta is boiling, add half of the pesto to the pan with the sausages and stir. You can freeze the other half of pesto for future use!

Keep stirring the pesto. All you're doing here is cooking out the raw garlic, so as soon as your pasta is done the pesto will also be done. Drain the pasta retaining some of the cooking water in the bottom of the pan. You'll use this water to loosen the dish slightly in a minute.

Turn the heat off and add the pasta half at a time into the sausages and stir to get it all coated. Finally add in a few glugs of the pasta water to loosen it all up slightly, stir through and you're done!

To serve, simply divide between two plates or bowls!

I hope that you enjoy it.

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