Recipe: Mustardy Sausage & Sticky Onion Pasta

 

Similarly to Wendy Cope”s men, my entries for Presto Pasta Night are also like busses.

Bloody men are like bloody buses –
You wait for about a year
And as soon as one approaches your stop
Two or three others appear.

Wendy Cope – Bloody Men

Having has a good 4 months off this is my third submission to PPN in a row (and I have another one queued).  It must be something to do with the change in the season, dark cold evenings demand comfort food, and, judging from the plummeting quality of my photography, some decent lighting.

This recipe was developed for French’s Mustard, in conjunction with my current competition to win a £50 supermarket voucher.

Every autumn I become obsessed with slowly frying onions for 30 to 40 minutes to make them sweet, sticky and juicy.   They are then made into a sauce with a little cream (50ml for two people), chopped sausages and a generous dash of French’s smooth and spicy American mustard.   The mustard has just the right mix of sweetness and heat when paired with the sausage and onion, and thickens the sauce nicely.     If you have not done so before, do try adding a little pasta water to a creamy sauce.  It bulks it out and does not add the scary calories that cream contains.

I used a rather wonderful artisan pasta, from the Terracafe in London.    The Terracafe is a gem, situated in the wasteland between Victoria rail and coach stations.     They serve great Italian coffee and sell a range of delicious top notch products from Tuscany Corner.      With the price of rail travel rocketing we are travelling by coach more and more frequently, and the Terracafe will become a “must stop” for both provisions for the journey and presents when going to stay with people.

Recipe: Mustardy Sausage & Sticky Onion Pasta

Serves 2

1 tbs olive oil
1 large onion – finely sliced
2 cloves garlic – chopped
3 – 4 cooked chipolatas
150g pasta
50ml double cream
2 tbs grain mustard

Handful frozen peas and sweetcorn (optional)
Salt & Pepper to season

Gently fry the onion and garlic in the olive oil on the lowest heat on your hob, stir regularly, you may need to use a diffuser ring to stop it burning.

Meanwhile roast or fry the sausages.

When the onions are reduced (this will take about 30 mins) start cooking the pasta.

Finish the sauce by adding the chopped sausages & cream and season with salt and pepper.     Add a little pasta water to the sauce to thin and bulk it out.     Stir in the mustard to taste.

2 mins before the pasta is cooked add the peas and corn to the pan.

Drain the pasta, mix into the sauce and serve immediately.

Sending to this weeks Presto Pasta Nights hosted this week by HoneyB.

If you like sausages I am giving away 3 copies of the sausages cookbook!