SAUSAGE, PORK AND RED VERMOUTH RAGU

Preparation 25 minutes

Cooking 1 hour 50 minutes

Serves 8 Milk is often added to a ragu to balance the acidity of the tomatoes and wine. Look for Italian sausages flavoured with fennel and red wine, which also have a coarser texture than British versions (try nifeislife. com or delicatezza.co.uk).

225g fresh Italian sausages 2 tbsp olive oil 1kg pork shoulder, trimmed and cut into 2.5cm pieces 2 medium onions, finely chopped 2 medium carrots, diced 3 bay leaves 3 garlic cloves, crushed 250ml red vermouth 680g jar of passata 125ml whole milk 600g fresh or dried pappardelle large handful of basil leaves freshly grated Parmesan, to serve

Slit the sausages down the centre, remove the casings and discard. Break up the sausage meat into rough chunks. Heat half the oil in a sauté pan and fry it until browned, breaking it down slightly with a wooden spoon. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Season the pork. Add the remaining oil to the pan, if necessary, and brown the meat all over. Set aside with the sausage meat. Add the onion, carrots and bay leaves to the pan with a large pinch of salt. Lower the heat and gently fry for 15 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Deglaze the pan with the vermouth, scraping it to remove any crusty bits, which is where extra flavour lies. Bubble until the liquid is reduced by half. Stir in the passata and return the meat to the pan. Season with freshly ground black pepper. Bring to the boil, cover and very gently simmer for 1-1 hour 15 minutes until the pork is tender. Every so often during the ragu’s cooking time, stir in 2 tbsp milk until it is absorbed (don’t add it all at once). Cook the pasta according to packet instructions. Stir the basil into the ragu and serve with the pasta and plenty of Parmesan.