This dish really is such a treat. It’s perfect to feed the family, but also special enough to serve guests. Plus, it’s flippin’ delicious!! Follow me…
Béchamel Sauce
One of the key steps in this dish is serving it with a dollop of béchamel sauce. I stumbled across ‘Jacobi Cooks’ online who said that one of the cooks he worked with used to whip up a béchamel sauce to pour over certain pasta dishes. My initial reaction was ‘good heavens that sounds amazing’ but also ‘why have I never thought of this before!?’ Similarly to Jacobi, here we’re going to be serving the béchamel over a delightful sausage ragù pasta.
Simple Béchamel Sauce
Usual stuff, just butter + flour + milk. We’re also going in with a touch of nutmeg and a sprinkling of parmesan, just to spruce it up a little. Process shots: melt butter (photo 1), stir in flour (photo 2), whisk in milk (photo 3), stir in parmesan, nutmeg, salt & pepper (photo 4).
Sausage Pasta
For this pasta, you’ll want to grab some good-quality sausage meat. Don’t sub pork mince/ground pork, you’ll lose out on a whole heap of flavour.
What kind of sausage should I use?
I typically just grab a pack of sausage meat from the supermarket, although you can squeeze the meat from some pork sausages if you prefer. Because we’re seasoning the sausage meat ourselves, I recommend just getting plain sausage meat/sausages (i.e. no fancy flavour combos). If you’re in the US and can get plain sausage meat use that, if not I imagine mild Italian sausage will work just fine. Process shots: add shallots and garlic to oil (photo 1), fry until soft (photo 2), add sausage (photo 3), fry until browned (photo 4).
Orecchiette with Sausage Ragù
The base of the ragù is tomato, but it’s also balanced out with some chicken stock and milk (yes you read that right, not cream – who even am I these days?!).
Ragù Seasoning
To take the sauce to the next level, we’re going to add some fennel seeds, along with some oregano and chilli flakes.
What is orecchiette?
Orecchiette is small ear-shaped pasta. I believe ‘orecchiette’ literally means ‘small ears’. It works amazingly in this dish because it contains all the little pieces of ragù! Process shots: stir fennel seeds & tomato puree into sausage (photo 1), add white wine and simmer (photo 2), add stock, milk & seasoning and simmer (photo 3), add cooked pasta (photo 4), stir then add parmesan (photo 5), stir (photo 6).
Where can I find orecchiette?
You will find it online or in Italian food stores, but I believe they sell it in Tesco and Waitrose too.
Can I use different pasta?
If you can get your hands on orecchiette then definitely use that, but if not then any sort of short-cut pasta will do the trick.
Do I have to add fennel?
Fennel has a very strong, pungent flavour, but it goes so beautifully with pork. If you know you don’t like it then you can leave it out, if you’re unsure you can start with a smaller amount and work up.
Serving Sausage Orecchiette
Once your sausage pasta is ready to rock and roll, you can then serve it with a few spoonfuls of the béchamel sauce, alongside small fresh basil leaves for a final pop of colour and flavour. Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this sausage orecchiette shall we?!
How to make Orecchiette with Sausage (Full Recipe & Video)
For another sausage and béchamel combo check out my Sausage & Fennel Lasagne! For more similar recipes check out these beauties:
Sausage Pasta Recipes
Sausage and Pepper Pasta Sausage and Fennel Pasta Creamy Tomato Sausage Pasta Penne Arrabiata with Smoked Sausage Sausage Ragu Sausage Harissa Pasta
