Ingredients
- 400 g good–quality pork sausages
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 bulb of fennel, quartered lengthwise and sliced across
- 1 eggplant, cubed
- 350 g small button mushrooms
- ⅓ cup (90 g) tomato paste
- 300 ml red wine
- 600 ml chicken stock, preferably homemade
- 1⅔ cups (255 g) macaroni
- 250 g silverbeet, finely shredded
- 1 cup (80 g) fresh breadcrumbs
- ¼ cup (15 g) chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated parmesan
- salt
- pepper
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Place the sausages in a flameproof casserole dish over a moderate heat and cook for about 8 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Turn the sausages frequently so that they brown evenly.
- Remove the sausages from the pan and set them aside on a plate.
- Discard excess fat from the pan.
- Add the oil, fennel seeds and bay leaves to the pan.
- Heat until the oil is hot and the seeds are beginning to sizzle, then add the garlic, onion, rosemary and oregano.
- Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes or until the onion is slightly softened.
- Stir in the sliced fennel, eggplant and mushrooms.
- Add the tomato paste, wine and stock.
- Stir to mix the tomato paste into the liquid, then bring to the boil.
- Remove from the heat.
- Slice the sausages and stir them into the casserole.
- Cover and cook in the oven for 20 minutes.
- Stir in the macaroni and cover the casserole again, then return it to the oven.
- Cook for a further 15 minutes.
- The pasta will not be completely tender at this stage.
- Remove from the oven.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 180°C.
- Gradually stir the silverbeet into the casserole, adding more as the first handfuls wilt.
- Mix together the breadcrumbs, parsley and parmesan and sprinkle evenly over the top of the casserole.
- Put back into the oven, uncovered, and cook for a further 30 minutes or until the topping is crisp and golden.
- Underneath, the pasta and vegetables should be tender.
- Serve at once, directly from the casserole dish.