Rick Stein’s ‘traditional’ sausage ragu with tagliatelle recipe is ready in just 5 steps

shared his “traditional” homemade full of sausage meat, double cream, white wine, and more.

“You don’t need a machine to make your own ,” penned in his cookbook Rick Stein’s Long Weekends. “If you don’t have one, give it a go with a rolling pin.”

Homemade can, of course, be substituted for shop-bought , but it may not taste as fresh.

Taking a bit of time to prepare (between 30 minutes to an hour), rest assured that the hearty meal is a labour of love – although, thankfully, most of it is waiting for the homemade to dry.

Here’s how to make Rick Stein’s sausage ragu with from scratch (you can also make the same for shop-bought for ease).

Sausage ragù with tagliatelle

• Serves: four people
• Prep: 30 mins to one hour
• Cooks in: 30 mins to one hour

Ingredients

For the pasta dough

• 400g pasta flour
• Four eggs, lightly beaten
• Two tsp salt

For the ragù

• 400g pork sausage meat
• One tbsp olive oil
• One small onion, finely chopped
• Two sticks celery, chopped
• Three-quarters tsp fennel seeds, roughly ground in a pestle and mortar
• One sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves finely chopped
• Quarter tsp chilli flakes
• One large garlic clove, grated
• 150ml dry white wine
• 150ml double cream
• 150ml chicken stock
• 50g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

To make the pasta

In a food processor, combine the flour, eggs and salt, then tip onto a work surface and bring together in a ball of dough, cover in cling film and rest for 20 to 30 minutes.

With a pasta machine (or a rolling pin), roll out the pasta into a couple of thin sheets (about 2mm thick). Run through a pasta machine to make tagliatelle. Separate the strands and leave to dry on a tray.

Break up the sausage meat into a large lidded pan with a little olive oil. Cook on a medium heat for around 10 minutes, stirring from time to time. Add the onion, celery, fennel seeds, rosemary, chilli and garlic then cook for a further 15 minutes.

Pour in the wine and cook until reduced in volume by half, then add the cream and chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper then put a lid on the pan and simmer gently for half an hour.

When ready to serve, cook the tagliatelle in plenty of salted water for about four minutes until al dente, drain and add to the ragù pan and mix in. Serve in warmed bowls with freshly grated Parmesan.