Sausage, Garlic & Fennel Gnocchi
This creamy sausage, garlic & fennel gnocchi is super comforting & easy to make! We're making this pasta dish with caramelised sausage meat, fennel seeds, parmesan, cream & fresh tarragon.
Servings: 4 People
Equipment
- Large Saucepans
- Microplane/Grater
Ingredients
Sausage, Garlic & Fennel Sauce
- 400 g Pork Sausages (6 Sausages)
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Fennel Seeds (Crushed In A Pestle & Mortar)
- 50 g Unsalted Butter
- 1 White Onion (Finely Diced)
- 6 Garlic Cloves (Grated)
- 150 ml White Wine (See Notes)
- 250 ml Double Cream
- 60 g Parmesan (Grated)
- 1 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 1 tbsp Finely Chopped Tarragon
- 500 g Gnocchi (See Notes)
To Serve
- Grated Parmesan
- Olive Oil
Instructions
Sausage, Garlic & Fennel Sauce
- Remove & discard the skins from the sausages then crumble the meat into small pieces.
- Next, place a large pan over a medium heat then add in the olive oil & leave to heat up for a minute. Once the oil's hot, add in the crumbled up sausage meat then fry, stirring occasionally until it's well browned & caramelised. This will take 4-5 minutes.
- Once the sausage meat is cooked, stir in the crushed fennel seeds then fry for another 30 seconds. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the meat to a bowl, leaving any fat/oil in the pan. Turn the heat down to medium-low.
- Add the butter into the pan then once melted, add in the diced onion & a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring frequently until the onions are soft & translucent. This will take around 10 minutes.
- Next, stir the grated garlic into the onions, cook for another 30 seconds then stir in the sausage meat. Turn the heat back up to medium.
- Pour the white wine into the pan then cook, until reduced almost completely. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, to deglaze the pan & release all the caramelised bits!
- Whilst the pan is deglazing, bring a separate, large pan of salted water to the boil over a high heat. This is for cooking the gnocchi in.
- Once the pan has been deglazed, add in the double cream, grated parmesan & lemon juice then stir to combine & season to taste with salt & pepper. Leave to simmer gently over a low heat whilst you cook the gnocchi.
- Next, cook the gnocchi in the pan of water following the packet's instructions. You'll know when the gnocchi's cooked when it starts to float. This only tends to take around 3-4 minutes.
To Finish & Serve
- Once the gnocchi is cooked, use a slotted spoon to transfer it into the sauce then stir to combine. If needed, add in a small ladle of the pasta water to the sauce, so that it's thin enough to coat the gnocchi. You'll only need a small amount of water, if any.
- To finish, stir the chopped tarragon through the sauce then spoon the gnocchi into bowls. Top with extra grated parmesan, a drizzle of olive oil & a few cracks of black pepper.
Notes
1. To Cook On An Aga - Use the boiling plate to brown the sausage meat, to cook the onion & to deglaze the pan. Move over to the simmering plate to add the cream & cheese in then cook the gnocchi on the boiling plate.
2. Gnocchi - This recipe will work with either shop bought or homemade gnocchi. Alternatively, you can use pretty much any pasta shape instead. Pappardelle or rigatoni would be good choices.
3. Sausages - Using good quality sausages makes all the difference when making pasta sauce! I used Cumberland sausages but use whatever type you like.
4. Cream - I used double cream, for a rich, creamy sauce. For a lighter flavour, you could use single cream instead. You won't need to add as much pasta water if you use single cream, so keep that in mind!
5. White Wine - Don't worry about using an expensive white wine for this dish but it should be something you'd happily drink! If you'd like to make this pasta alcohol free, deglaze the pan with a small amount of water instead or stock.
6. Leftovers - This gnocchi dish is best served straight away as it will thicken & change texture as it cools. However, if you've got some leftover it should be stored in the fridge then can be reheated in a pan on the stove, with a splash of water to loosen off the sauce. Make sure to get the sauce & gnocchi piping hot!