Penne Pasta with spicy sausage, chilli & cream

Rachel Allens Pasta with Spicy Sausage and Cream

Five years ago my life was perfect! I had a husband, two gorgeous sons, a cat and a dog. We had left the baby stage behind and had started to PARTEEEEE! You know, when you find each other again over romantic dinners instead of under a myriad of filthy nappies, milton and leaky boobs but then it happened……I had the scan and he said “Two heads present!’. With one fell swoop it was bye bye Louis Vuiton and hello twin buggy ( Which leads to it’s own misery and the occasional feeling that you actually are a leper because you fit in nowhere! )

Being civilised was a thing of the past. We were the family from hell….no seriously! Two screechy babies in a restaurant….romantic dinners were a thing of the past. Dinners became frantic, something to be thrown back before the next feed or wailing session began but I am a cook! I feed my family and I feed them well so amid the mayhem and panic of feeding five other mouths and one AuPair we fell in to the arms of Rachel Allen. This is still one of my favourite dinners and one that my beloved AuPair took back to Portugal with her ( not on a plate of course but written carefully in a little book compiled of recipes inspired by moi…and the screechy Irish babies!lol ) This was my comfort in my misery….I do love them but twins with reflux….hello!

Ingredients:

700g fresh chopped tomatoes or 2 x 400g tins of good quality tomatoes
25g butter
4 cloves of garlic
2 tsp chopped rosemary
Salt, pepper and sugar
225g chorizo or kabanossi sauasge, sliced into .5cm rounds
Pinch of chilli flakes
175ml cream
2 tbsp chopped parsley
500g penne
4 tbsp parmesan

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the tomatoes, garlic and rosemary. Season with salt, pepper and sugar (I usually add 1tsp per 2 cans of tomatoes). Cook for about 5 minutes, until the tomatoes have just begun to soften.
Add the sausage to the pan with the chili flakes and half the parsley. Allow to simmer with the lid off for 10-20 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced by half, stirring frequently. Take off the heat and check the seasoning.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta until al dente, drain, and toss with the sauce. Divide among your dishes and top with Parmesan.
I sometimes change this a little by adding a half teaspoon of smoked hot paprika.