Sausage and Bacon Pasta

Utterly delicious sausage and bacon pasta for those days when only pasta will do.

Hello hello!

How’s the weather like where you are? It is a rainy day over here in Newcastle. The good thing about that is that I don’t have to water my plants, so I shall not complain.

With the rain and all, I really feel like it has to be a pasta day. Warm and filling, just the thing I need. I used some leftover sausages I had from making hot dogs over the weekend. Add some bacon into the mix and there we have it, scrumptious sausage and bacon pasta!

For the sauce, I used passata and just added seasoning and herbs. I also used a little bit of brandy just to give the sauce some body.

I don’t know if you can tell from the photos but I used some scallion flavoured tagliatelle. It has a slight green hue to it. I was unsure of whether it would go with this pasta but it did. In fact, it added some vege flavour to the otherwise meaty dish. Obviously, you can just use whichever pasta you have.

I am also quite pleased that my basil plant is surviving this year. I bought one of the Basil pots from Asda 2 weeks ago and it has not died or wilted on me just yet. Apparently there is a difference between watering from the bottom of the pot and from the top. The instructions always say “water from the bottom” of course I never listened until now. So, that might be why. You live you learn!

Sausage and Bacon Pasta

Prep Time: 10 minutes/ Cooking time: 20 minutes / Serves 3

Ingredients

4 Pork Sausages (Casings removed) (I used premium pork sausages here)

4 slices of Bacon

300gm Pasta (I used Tagliatelle with scallions)

500gm Passata

1 Tbsp Tomato Paste mixed with 3 Tbsp water

2 Tbsp Brandy

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp dried Oregano

¾ tsp Salt

1 tsp Black Pepper

1 tsp Chili Flakes

1 Tbsp freshly chopped Parsley

2 Tbsp freshly chopped Basil

3 cloves of Garlic (finely sliced)

1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3-4 Basil Leaves for garnishing

Method

1. In a non-stick frying pan, add the bacon slices and cook until crisp. I do not add any oil when I am cooking the bacon. Don’t overcrowd the bacon, if you are using a small frying pan, cook the bacon in batches. Remove from heat and once cooled, cut into small pieces.

2. Next, heat the oil in a deep pot. Once hot, sauté the garlic slices until it is fragrant but before it browns. Add in the sausage meat and brown evenly, breaking up any lumps as you go along. Then, add in the bacon bits. Stir evenly.

3. Slowly pour in the passata and stir through evenly. Add the tomato paste, brandy, garlic powder, dried oregano, salt, pepper, chilli flakes and half the parsley and basil. Lower the heat slightly and simmer for 8-10 minutes.

4. While the sauce is simmering, cook the pasta according to the package instructions.

5. Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add into the sauce, stirring until the pasta is evenly coated with the sauce. Add the remaining parsley and basil. Stir through then dish out and serve immediately. Garnish with some more basil leaves.