Sausage

I want to win a week in a Tuscany Villa!

I was recently challenged to create a Tuscan-inspired recipe, which included three key Tuscan ingredients – olive oil, tomatoes and Parmesan cheese.

Tuscany, Tuscany, Tuscany…

I last visited Tuscany around nine years ago, during a visit to my sister, who lives in a small village in the North of Italy. We challenged ourselves to take a cross-country coach trip to the alluring town of Florence and I think it remains the single most memorable daytrip of my life.

We passed through the region of Chianti and I was simply stunned by the beauty of the Tuscan countryside. Since then, it has always been my dream to go back and visit Tuscany.

So, here goes. I have created a recipe called Tuscan-Inspired Sausage, Fennel Seed and Tomato Crostini. I remember eating plenty of crostini and brushetta in Florence, although not with sausage meat though I hope the Italians would approve.

In Tuscany, the flavour of fennel and fennel seeds is common although if you can’t find fennel sausages you could just use the best-quality lean pork sausages you can find and flavour with fennel seeds. Italians often buy good sausages and split them open to use the meat.

Creating Italian recipes is never a chore for me, since I love nothing more than to stop by at my local Italian delicatessen called Buongiorno Italia. Established over 30 years ago, Tony, the owner, is always super keen to recommend fantastic Italian produce as well as some wonderful fresh seasonal produce and the most amazing locally-made gelato.

So, I picked up the three key ingredients – Olive Oil which happens to come from Tuscany called Seggiano – produced by smallholders from the Olivastra olives of Seggiano in Tuscany, Pomidori Pelati Italiani (Italian peeled tomatoes) and of course, the obligatory wedge of Parmesan Cheese.

I also found some Salsiccia Finocchio – Fennel Seed Sausages – made at La Bottega di Ado, some fresh garlic, one white onion, fresh ciabatta and fresh basil.

Tuscan-Inspired Sausage, Fennel Seed and Tomato Crostini

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 small loaf Ciabatta or other country-style bread
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 white onion, finely chopped
2 whole garlic cloves, minced or crushed
4 best-quality pork sausages, flavoured with fennel if possible
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
200g Italian peeled plum tomatoes (in a tin)
2 teaspoons tomato puree
50g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
A few springs of fresh basil

Method:

1. Remove the sausages from their casings and put to one side.

2. Put a large frying pan on a medium heat, pour in two tablespoons of olive oil and gently fry the chopped onion. Once it starts to soften, add the garlic and gently fry too for just a few minutes.

3. Add the fennel seeds into the pan and stir then add the sausage meat into the pan, breaking it up with your hands as it goes in. Fry for around 6 minutes on a medium head, until the sausage meat browns and is cooked through. If there if too much fat, you could drain a little off at this stage. Keep stirring the sausage meat to break it up some more and make sure it doesn’t burn or stick.

4. Add the tinned tomatoes and tomato puree and stir well. Sprinkle some of the Parmesan cheese into the pan which will help to bind the sausage meat making it easier for topping the toast.

5. Leave the sausage and tomato mixture to cook gently while your prepare the crostini/bread.

6. Slice your Ciabatta or other bread (I like to cut mine diagonally across the loaf) drizzle with the rest of the olive oil and either place under the grill or in a griddle pan until golden.

7. Top each slice of bread with some of the sausage mixture, a scattering of more Parmesan cheese and some fresh basil leaves.

Enjoy!

Last week I caught up on the phone with my sister over in Italy who (during an amazing conversation about Italian food) said that she had seen a really delicious looking sausage and courgette risotto that she didn’t eat, but immediately felt compelled to try herself at home. I did the same and the result was really good.

I love making risotto, there is something so therapeutic about gently stirring as the rice slowly cooks and releases a wonderful creaminess. This has now become my new favourite risotto recipe, replacing a classic porcini and wild mushroom risotto that my husband claims is his favourite meal.

It was also the perfect opportunity to test out my new ‘Spon’ – not a spelling error – kindly sent to me by Neil Robertson of The Spon Co. The Spon is Neil’s clever invention and he went on to win the World Porridge Making Championship using it!

One day, as Neil was stirring his cake mix, he realised he had to keep stopping to scrape the cake mix from the ‘bowl’ of the spoon and so he decided to invent a spoon with two convex sides – basically there is no ‘dip’, just two backs with extra weight to increase beating power.

When making a cake mix, creaming or beating by hand, you end up with no lumps and a more aerated mix. As demonstrated by Neil, it also makes great porridge! I found that the Spon was also absolutely perfect for stirring the risotto and will always use it for that from now on. Since you get two Spons in a packet, I found that the baby Spon was great for scrambled eggs or stirring a roux.

You can buy them online for the very reasonable price of £5.00 (plus postage) for a pair of carved beech spons. Mine also came with a recipe for The Spon Sponge, which I will try next.

I hope you enjoy making the risotto (recipe below). I used some pancetta and parmesan pork sausages, though really any high-quality sausages would work well. Take care not to overmix. I always have a separate pan of gently boiling stock next to my risotto pan, so that the stock is almost boiling as you add each ladleful of stock to the rice.

Let me know what your favourite risotto flavours are!

Sausage & Courgette Risotto

Recipe from my sister in Italy

Ingredients

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 stick celery, finely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped

6 high-quality pork sausages (taken out of casing)

350g Arborio risotto rice

1 glass white wine

1.5 litres of chicken stock (or vegetable stock)

3 courgettes, cubed

A knob of butter

50 g grated parmesan cheese

Method

1. Prepare all of the vegetables and remove the sausages from their casing.

2. Heat the olive oil in a heavy-based pan on a medium heat, add the onion, celery and carrot and cook for about 5 minutes until soft.

3. Add the sausage to the pan and break it up with a spoon so that it crumbles and starts to resemble mince. Again, cook for about 5 mintes until it takes on some colour.

3. Add the risotto rice to the pan and mix well so that all the rice is coated with the olive oil. Make sure the heat is not too high, so that the rice doesn’t stick to the pan.

4. Add the wine, stir well and allow it to bubble until it has evaporated.

5. One ladleful at a time, add the stock, stir a little and simmer until the rice absorbs most of the stock before adding in the next ladleful. (I keep a sperate pan of gently boiling stock next to the risotto pan so that the stock always goes in hot). You will start to see that you rice goes quite creamy. In total, you should keep adding your stock, simmering and stirring for around 10 minutes.

6. Towards the end of the cooking time, add the courgettes – these really don’t need any time at all and you are aiming for them to stay quite firm and crunchy. The rice also needs to stay quite firm – it should have a bite to it (I overcooked mine as the kids prefer it to be a bit sloppy!)

7. At the very end, stir in the knob of butter and add the parmesan cheese. I usualluy serve it with a pile of cheese on top too!

In total, the risotto takes around 15 minutes of cooking time – unless you have bought ‘risotto pronto’ or quick cook risotto which will take much less.

Loved this recipe! Thanks sis!

Thank you also to Neil for kindly sending me the Spons.

Sausage

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