Sausage & Fennel Ragù

I'll link where the inspiration to this recipe came from below. It feels almost too special for a weekday, yet it's so easy to make, and using simple swaps make it easy to adapt our favourite recipes to low-carb!

What you'll need

Enough for however many you're feeding, I cook for 2.

Main ingredients

• Pork sausages, 2-3 per person
• Cream, around 150-200ml
• Pointy/ Hispi Cabbage, sliced ½ inch

Fresh/ frozen

• Onion, any ½
• Celery, 1 rib diced
• Garlic, 1-2 cloves minced

Store cupboard

• Fennel seeds, 2 tsps
• Chilli flakes, ½-1 tsp
• Stock, about 200ml

What to do

1. Soften some finely chopped onion and a celery rib in a frying pan with some olive oil. Add 2 tsp of fennel seeds, as many chilli flakes as you like and a grated clove of garlic, or tsp garlic granules, stir through the mix and cook for 5 more minutes. 

2. Remove the sausage meat from the skins and add the meat to the onions and celery. Break up the meat and cook on medium heat for 10-15 mins.

3. Meanwhile, slice some cabbage, I've used savoy here as that's what I had available, but hispi (also called pointy or sweetheart) is really nice too - in fact I think it's the best for this. Cook it to your liking, I steam in a little salted water with a big knob of butter for about 8 minutes, or until soft like pasta.

4. It's time to finish off the sausage ragu... deglaze the pan with some stock (about 200ml should be enough) or a small glass of white wine or water. Allow to reduce and thicken up a bit. Add a swirl of cream and allow to warm through on a low heat.

5. It's ready to serve, pile up the cabbage and top with the ragu sauce. Sprinkle some grated cheese over if you'd like to, but try it first, as I find this rich enough without. Season with lots of black pepper.