Serves 4
Preparation time 5 minutes
Cooking time 15 minutes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
200 g (7 oz) Italian pork sausage
large pinch of crushed dried chillies
300 g (10 oz) dried orecchiette
200 g (7 oz) broccoli, broken into florets
40 g (1¼ oz) pecorino cheese, freshly grated, plus extra to serve
salt
Heat the oil in a frying pan over a low heat, add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 6–7 minutes until softened. Split the sausage open and break up the sausagemeat with a fork. Add the sausagemeat chunks and chillies to the pan and increase the heat to medium. Cook, stirring, for 4–5 minutes until the sausagemeat is golden brown.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta and broccoli in a large saucepan of salted boiling water according to the pasta packet instructions until the pasta is al dente. Don’t be alarmed if the broccoli starts to break up – it needs to be very tender.
Drain the pasta and broccoli and toss into the frying pan with the sausagemeat. Stir in the pecorino and serve immediately with a bowl of extra grated pecorino on the side.
For cauliflower & chorizo sauce, replace the Italian pork sausage with 200 g (7 oz) sliced chorizo. Cut 250 g (8 oz) cauliflower into small florets and cook with the pasta as above.