Pork, Fennel and Sun-dried Tomato Spaghetti

a great mid-week meal featuring the great pairing that is pork and fennel.

This dish is a recent go-to for mid-week cooking. I tend to pull it together in about half an hour, the ideal time you want to spend cooking after a long day. On top of it being quick and easy, the meat sauce holds well overnight, making leftovers the ideal work-from-home lunch (just boil your pasta and you're set).

Recipe Tip

* If you do not have pork sausage meat, you can squeeze out the inside of some good quality pork sausages. You can also substitute the pork meat for turkey/chicken/meat-free mince for dietary purposes. You can also substitute or leave out the butter and cheese if necessary.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 3

INGREDIENTS

- 350g pork sausage meat

- 1 bulb fennel, sliced (save the fennel fronts)

- Handful sun-dried tomatoes

- 3 tbsp olive oil

- 1 medium brown onion, finely diced

- 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced

- 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

- Pinch red chilli flakes

- 1 tbsp grated pecorino cheese (or any other hard cheese, e.g. parmesan)

- 1 tbsp butter

- Pinch of salt

- Spaghetti pasta of choice

METHOD

1. Set up a pan of water on medium heat and bring to the boil - this is for your pasta

2. Soften the onions in the olive oil. Do this on a medium to low heat, stir frequently to avoid the onions from burning.

3. Add the garlic and allow to soften and become fragrant

4. Add the sausage meat, then allow to brown before turning and breaking apart the meat

5. Add salt to your boiling water and then add your spaghetti to cook

6. Season your sausage meat with the black pepper, salt and chilli flakes and then add in the sun-dried tomatoes and the fennel

7. Once the fennel has softened, add your butter and stir through

8. Add your cheese and stir. (If you wish to keep some of the sausage mix for the following day, now is the time to set that aside in some Tupperware)

9. Drain the pasta (saving about 1-2 tablespoons of pasta water), and add to the pasta sauce.

10. Serve topped with some of the fennel fronts you saved, and some more grated cheese.