Simple food...

This recipe is adapted from the book “Gino’s Islands in the Sun” by Gino D’Acampo.

I tried this dish after buying some gnocchi sardi. It was so delicious I went back for a third serving! It’s made with simple, inexpensive ingredients but bursting with flavour. I strongly recommend you use Italian sausages for this recipe, available from most butchers and many large supermarkets. - they are slightly coarser and more highly seasoned than most British sausages (sometimes including fennel, garlic and wine) - but any pure pork sausages would be fine provided you season the dish well. I kept thinking about it after, wondering why I liked it so much. I settled on one word to describe the feeling: comforting.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 celery stick, finely chopped
• 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 400g coarse, Italian-style pork sausages (or whatever gourmet sausages you prefer), skin removed
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 × 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
• 500g gnocchi sardi
• 10 fresh basil leaves, shredded
• 80g freshly grated pecorino cheese
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the celery, fry for 1 minute, then add the onion, carrot and rosemary and season with salt. Fry for 7-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Add the sausage meat, break it up with a wooden spoon and fry for 5-8 minutes or until browned.
3. Add the tomato purée and tomatoes and simmer for about 5 minutes. Pour in 250ml water, bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Cook the pasta shells in a large pan of boiling, salted water as specified on the package or until they float to the surface. Drain thoroughly.
5. Tip the pasta shells into the sauce, add the basil and stir for 30 seconds to combine. Sprinkle over the pecorino and mix once again. Serve immediately.