Honest Butcher 1st Anniversary Pasta Sauce with Orecchiette

Honest Butcher 1st Anniversary Pasta Sauce with Orecchiette

On weeknights who needs to spend an hour our more cooking dinner…particularly when you’ve just dragged yourself home from work? Not me, that’s who.  This is a version of Jamie Oliver’s “Jool’s Pregnant Pasta” from his 30 Minute Meals series. I like to support the local talent so I stopped by The Honest Butcher on the way home from work to get pork sausage but they only had beef. However, the ever-friendly and appropriately moustachioed David (it is Movember after all) had some house-made Farmer’s Beef Sausage that looked just the ticket so I bought 3 and adapted the recipe. While chatting (much to my kids’ chagrin I’m a “chatter”) I discovered that today is The Honest Butcher’s 1st Anniversary. So, in honour of this auspicious occasion my adaptation obviously has to be called…”Honest Butcher 1st Anniversary Pasta Sauce”. And here it is:

Ingredients
3 Honest Butcher house-made Farmer’s Beef Sausages (approx 400 g)
1/2 a large red onion, rough chopped
4 spring onions, rough chopped
1 carrot, rough chopped
1 stick of celery, rough chopped
1 pinch of dried thyme (or I think that’s what it was)
4 cloves of garlic
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 jar of Passata strained tomatoes (I used Mutti brand) (700 g)

Put the rough chopped veggies in a food processor and whiz for a few seconds. With the motor running feed the sausages through the feed tube and whiz until you get a meatloaf like substance – don’t worry it breaks up when you fry it.  Heat the olive oil in a big frying pan and add the sausage and veggie ragu. Fry, breaking up as you go. Add the thyme and crush the garlic into the meat with a garlic press. Add the balsamic vinegar and cook off until the vinegar stops making your eyes water. Add the tomatoes and simmer while you bring the pasta water to a boil. Cook enough orecchiette to feed your crew. Drain off but keep about a cup of the pasta water to thin the sauce. Add the drained pasta to the frying pan, stir, add some pasta water to create a “sikly” consistency (as Jamie says) and serve with fresh grated parmesan. It would have been good with a fresh basil chiffonade but alas, alack, no fresh basil.

It was fast and given my son ate half the sauce by itself (I wasn’t quite fast enough with the pasta I guess) and even my “mostly vegetarian” daughter tried some and proclaimed it “good”. I think we have a winner. Please make more sausage David.



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