15 mins preparation | 30 mins cooking | Serves 6
Ingredients
- 2 heaped cups chunky dried pasta
- 1 tbsp oil
- 6 meaty sausages
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 fennel bulbs, trimmed, halved longwise, thinly sliced
- ½ tsp fennel seeds
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 550g store-bought arrabiata-style pasta sauce
- 1 cup grated cheese
Method
- Preheat oven to 190°C. Cook the pasta according to packet directions and drain, reserving ¼ cup of the starchy cooking water.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a frying pan and split the sausages lengthways with a sharp knife. Push the sausage meat out of its casings and into the hot pan; discard the casings.
- Crumble the sausage meat with a fork or masher, and cook until the meat is starting to brown. Add the crushed garlic and sliced fennel and cook for 5 minutes or until the fennel has become tender.
- Add the fennel seeds and oregano and cook for 2-3 minutes, then pour in the sauce and a dash of the reserved starchy water. Bring to a simmer.
- Fold in the cooked pasta and pour into a heatproof dish. Top with grated cheese and bake for 25 minutes until golden and melted.
