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Best quick pasta dish recipe

  • SERVES: 4
  • PREP TIME: 10 mins
  • COOKING TIME: 30 mins
  • DIFFICULTY: easy
  • IDEAL FOR: family, crowds, midweek meals
  • BUDGET: £

We’ve done a lot of cooking lately with the excitement of the World Cup rugby…

Followed by long late afternoon meals around the kitchen table with friends and family, chatting, analysing (the rugby), laughing…

So, this week, we did a few days of non-meat dishes to re-group, re-balance and even threw in a couple evenings of circuit classes.

I now can’t move my arms above my shoulders and bending down to pick something up, well…

…let’s just say there are still a few things on the floor that I’ll be back to pick up in a couple of days.

The weekend

Our plan was to be low key, get some jobs done around the house and relax.

My Mum is coming to visit for Xmas from Kiwiland so we need to get the house ship-shape 😊

And we also need to crack on with more DIY on our boat, Kliene Aukje.

You may remember us bringing her up the Dart River back in January with help from some village friends.

And me serving them up with this lushish Texan Chilli to help warm the cockles

Stoke Fleming village crewing up the Dart in January… brrrr

Gotta love a project, right?

So, it maybe some surprise to you that we are STILL doing DIY on her.

Trust me, we feel the same.

This project may have been a little ambitious this year, squeezing in a number of other projects.

And it turns out, that Tim (hubby) “really wouldn’t be bored” if we didn’t have multiple projects on the go.

(He loves a surf)

No, he’s not posing?! lol

So, I guess you learn something every day in a marriage! Go figure.

Time

Time is a precious thing.

Our lovely old boat, is over 100 years old so needs a bit of love and attention.

Which takes time.

But with time, she has become more beautiful and richer with stories.

And like most things, like cooking, taking it slow and doing it with love often gives the best results.

So, I’m not going to beat myself (or Tim) up about how slow we’ve been with our old boat.

It will happen… in time.

And she’ll be beautiful.

(arghh, just don’t look too closely at our paintwork or wood work, ok?!

It’s self-defined as ‘Rustic DIY’ and on-trend

A bit like rustic, hearty, cooking.

Posing. If you ever thought owning a boat was glamorous!…
Wet weather gear includes my step-son’s old waterproofs from when he was 12 yrs old. fml

A simple ragu

So, as with ‘Rustic DIY’, you apply the same method to making a good ragu.

It’s super simple but and this recipe can actually save you time.

Which helps when you have to juggle ‘life-stuff’.

Let these simple ingredients and flavours do their thing…

And in (a short) time. You’ll have a rustic, warming meal to enjoy.

And here’s a wine tip…

Micahel Sutton Cellar suggests with ragu you try a Chianti Classico dry with the sour cherry flavours of the Sangiovese grape or an aromatic Montepulciano D’Abruzzo with earthy notes, spice and pepper!

Give it a go.

If you have a great pasta recipe that I should try, let me know!

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Simple sausage meat ragu

The best sausage meat pasta recipe to whip up
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Servings 4 people
Cost £

Ingredients

  • olive oil
  • 6 pork sausages
  • 2 sliced onions
  • 2 crushed garlic cloves
  • 1 tsp chilli flakes (or whatever desired heat you like)
  • 1 tsp fennel seeds
  • 2 x 400 g chopped tomatoes
  • splash of red wine (optional)
  • grated Parmesan for serving
  • chopped parsley for serving
  • 300 g Pappardelle or Rigatoni pasta (I like getting the fresh pasta but when in a rush, the dried pasta is just as good)

Instructions

  • Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan pan and sweat off your onions and garlic.
  • Cut the skin of the sausages and pinch small pieces of sausage into the pan and cook until browned. Stir in a pinch of salt.
  • Add chilli and fennel and cook for around 1 minute.
  • Pour in the tomatoes and a splash of wine and simmer for 20 minutes.
  • During this time, cook the pasta as directed on the packet. (Don't forget to add a couple of tablespoons of the pasta 'juice' into the pan with the meat etc simmering – adds a bit of flavour and sauce-y-ness)
  • When the pasta is done, strain and add it to the pan with the ragu. Stir in so the sauce gets all over the pasta.
  • Serve with chopped parsley and Parmesan.