Ingredients

Method

• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ brown onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 500 g pork sausages 2, removed from casings
• ½ cup (125 ml) chardonnay wine
• ¾ cup (185 ml) low-salt chicken stock
• 1 cup (250 ml) thickened cream
• ½ t tsp cooking salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 2 2 tightly packed cups (90 g) kale, torn into bite-sized pieces
To serve:
• Finely grated parmesan
• Pinch of dried chilli flakes (optional)

Method

Ingredients

1. Cook pasta – Bring a large pot* of water to the boil. Add the salt and cook the pasta according to the packet directions. Just before draining, scoop out a mugful of the pasta cooking water. Drain the pasta in a colander. Time the pasta cooking so it’s ready at the same time as the sauce.

2. Cook sausage – Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan* over high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the sausage meat and cook, breaking it up as you go as you would mince. Get some colour on the pork by leaving it undisturbed for 30 seconds. Toss briefly, then leave it for another 30 seconds.

3. Creamy sauce – Add the wine and let it simmer rapidly for 2 minutes, scraping the base of the saucepan to loosen any golden bits stuck there (free flavour!). Reduce the heat to medium–high. Add the stock, cream, salt and pepper and simmer for 5 minutes. The sauce will still be quite thin, but it will thicken more in the next step.

4. Toss with pasta – Add the cooked pasta, kale and ¼ cup (60 ml) of the reserved pasta cooking water to the sauce. Use two spatulas to toss well for 1 minute or until the sauce is coating the pasta instead of being a watery pool in the pan.

5. Serve – Immediately divide among bowls and serve sprinkled with parmesan and a pinch of chilli flakes, if desired.

Cook's note:

1. Calamarata pasta is a big, ring-shaped pasta that gets its name from calamari rings. I live in a neighbourhood with some good Italian delis, so I get to have fun trying new pasta shapes! But you can make this with whatever pasta you want. I feel that sausage-catching shapes like large shells and rigatoni work best with the sauce, though I wouldn’t hesitate to use spaghetti if that’s all I had.

2. I like to use pork sausages in this recipe, but beef and chicken would work nicely, too. Skip the really economical sausages that are a uniform pink colour. Look for good-quality ones made with more meat and less fillers, with specks of fat. Read the ingredients label or ask your butcher – aim for 90%+ meat.

3. Substitute with any other dry white wine that’s not too sweet or woody. For non-alcoholic, it is best to use non-alcoholic white wine, otherwise, substitute with more low-salt chicken stock.

LEFTOVERS : As with all pastas, this is best eaten freshly made. However, it will keep in the fridge for 3 days. Not suitable for freezing.

Find more pasta recipes here

Extracted with permission from 'Recipetin Eats: Tonight' by Nagi Maehashi. Published by Macmillan Australia. Retail price: R699. Photography by Nagi Maehashi.