An indulgent creamy pasta dish for two using Heck chicken chipolatas.

I don’t remember the first time I started using sausage meat in pastas, but honestly I do wonder why on earth it took me so long. Why it works better for me than good old mince, I’ll never know….but it does!

If you’ve been with WFD Recipes from the beginning, you’ll know my OG sausage pasta recipe – the Ultimate Comfort Sausage Pasta. And if you loved that one, I’m sure you’ll be a real fan of this recipe for two as well.

This time, we’re switching it up by using Heck’s Chicken Italia Chipolatas, which can be easily found in most supermarkets by Heck’s other offerings (including plenty of meat-free substitutes if you need!). Not only does the chicken offer a slightly different twist to this dish rather than our usual pork sausages, these chipolatas are already seasoned with basil, tomatoes and mozzarella, as well as being low in fat, high in protein and gluten free. Win win right?

But of course we do love an indulgent pasta. So I’m going ahead and throwing some cream into this chicken sausage pasta recipe, along with a little sprinkle of parmesan. I’m also using manfredine pasta. This tagliatelle style pasta shape with crinkled edges is incredible to coat in a creamy sauce and really make the most of it. You should be able to pick manfredine pasta up at your local supermarket, but if you struggle, good old linguine or tagliatelle still works a treat.

Now, enough with the talking. Let’s get cooking.

Recipe ingredients

• 340g Heck Chicken Italia Chipolatas
• About 140g or so of manfredine pasta
• 300g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 1 sweet pointed red pepper
• Half of a white onion
• 3 (approx 95g) sweet vine ripened tomatoes
• 3 garlic cloves
• Half of a lemon
• 100ml of your choice of white wine
• 75ml of double cream
• 10g grated parmesan
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• 1 teaspoon of dried parsley
• Half a teaspoon of paprika
• Half a teaspoon of thyme
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• A sprinkle of dried chilli flakes (optional)

Cooking utensils

• 2 saucepans
• 1 sieve
• Sharp knives
• Wooden spoon
• Ladle
• Cooking tongs
• Chopping board

1. Heat your large pan with a little olive oil. Whilst that is warming up, finely dice your onion.
2. Cook your onion in your pan for a few minutes on a medium heat, until it gains that lovely golden colour.
3. Finely dice and de-seed your pointed red pepper and add it to the pan with your onion, cooking for a further 3 to 4 minutes and stirring often.
4. Now, the slightly messy part. Remove the sausage meat from the skins of your chipolatas and add to your pan. Use your wooden spoon to break down the sausage meat but then try to let it rest in the pan for a minute or so to help it go lovely and golden.
5. Continue to cook and now stir your sausage meat until it’s nicely browned.
6. Pour in your white wine, deglazing the pan with your spoon to release all those yummy flavours. Let the wine simmer until it’s mostly absorbed.
7. Scatter in your seasonings – so that’s your paprika, thyme, oregano, dried parsley and a dash of salt and pepper.
8. Finely dice your garlic and add that to the pan, cooking out for about 30 seconds or so.
9. Whilst that’s cooking, dice your fresh vine tomatoes (the size is up to you!) and add to the pan, along with your chopped tomatoes and the juice of half a lemon.
10. Turn down the heat ever so slightly, so it’s more medium / low, and add your cream and parmesan cheese. Let the sauce simmer for about 20 minutes until thickened.
11. Whilst your sauce is simmering away, you can boil your salted water to add and cook your pasta. You can use packet instructions, but I find manfredine pasta takes about 12 minutes to soften but retain a little bite.
12. If your sauce needs loosening, don’t forget, pasta water solves everything.
13. Drain your pasta and add to your sauce, giving it a real good stir to coat everything nicely.
14. Using tongs and your spoon, dish up your pasta and if you’d like, sprinkle with some dried chilli flakes to top it all off. Enjoy!

Tasty tips!

• Removing sausage meat from inside the skin isn’t always an easy task, so give yourself some time to carefully remove the meat.
• If you’re trying to avoid the heaviness of double cream, crème fraîche can be a great alternative.
• Spice lovers – try adding your chilli flakes a little earlier on in the process to intensify their heat.