Sausage, salami and chestnut pasta bake
Serves: 6
Prep time: 25 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Ant Duncan
Sausage, salami and chestnut pasta bake
A warming pasta bake, packed with wintry flavours, that’s ideal for a batch cooking
Serves: 6
Prep time: 25 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (serving)
Calories
891Kcal
Fat
44gr
Saturates
19gr
Carbs
91gr
Sugars
9gr
Fibre
10gr
Protein
30gr
Salt
1.8gr
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 fennel bulbs, finely sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely sliced
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves
- 6 pork sausages
- 1 x 180g pack cooked whole chestnuts, roughly chopped
- 1 x 86g pack Italian Milano salami, roughly chopped
- 1 x 500g pack Taste the Difference casarecce pasta
- 20g butter
- 20g plain flour
- 300ml chicken stock (made using ½ stock pot)
- 300ml single cream
- 75g parmesan, grated
- pinch of ground nutmeg
- 75g ciabatta, cut into rough breadcrumbs
Step by step
To freeze
Prepare to the end of step 5 but don’t bake. Cover the dish tightly with foil, cool completely and freeze. Take out of the freezer the night before and defrost in the fridge. Cook as per recipe.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large frying pan and fry the fennel for 6-8 minutes, or until soft and starting to caramelise. Add the garlic and rosemary and cook for 1 minute.
- Slit the sausage skins and remove the meat, breaking it up into small nuggets. Add to the pan and fry for 5-6 minutes or until just cooked through. Add the chopped chestnuts and salami and stir to combine. Remove from the heat.
- Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the casarecce pasta for 8-10 minutes, or until al dente. Drain, reserving a mugful of the pasta water, and return the pasta to the pan.
- Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan until it has started to turn brown and smells nutty. Add the flour, stirring continuously until smooth, and cook for a further minute. Slowly add the stock, whisking continuously until you have a smooth sauce. Bring to a simmer and simmer gently for 3-4 minutes, until slightly thickened. Slowly whisk in the cream, half the parmesan and all the nutmeg and cook until the cheese has melted. Season well.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6. Add the sausage and fennel mixture to the pasta in the pan, then pour over the creamy sauce, adding enough of the reserved pasta water to give a saucy consistency. Transfer to a large baking dish (approx. 30cm x 20cm). Toss the breadcrumbs with the remaining oil and parmesan and scatter over the top of the bake. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden and bubbling.
