Cheesy Sausage Spaghetti Hoops
This recipe is my delicious love letter to the iconic tin of spaghetti hoops and sausages!
Servings: 5 - 6 people
Cost: £2 / $2.50
Equipment
- Oven-Safe Large Deep Pot or Pan (see notes)
- Wooden Spoon
- Jug
- Cheese Grater
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
Ingredients
- 600g / 1.3lb good quality Pork Sausages (see notes)
- 2 large Shallots, finely diced
- 3 large cloves of Garlic, finely diced
- 2 large sprigs of Fresh Rosemary, finely diced (approx 1 tbsp)
- 75g / 2.6oz Tomato Puree (Tomato Paste in US)
- 2x 400g/14oz cans of Crushed Tomatoes
- 900ml / 3 3/4 cups Chicken Stock
- 400g / 14oz uncooked Anelli / Anellini Pasta (see notes)
- 1 small bunch of Fresh Basil, finely diced
- 80g / 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 200g / 7oz freshly grated Mozzarella
- Olive Oil, as needed
- Salt & Pepper, as needed
Instructions
- Squeeze lots of tiny chunks from the sausages, then wet your hands and roll them into meatballs. I usually get around 8 or so from 1 sausage.
- Add a drizzle of oil to a large deep oven-safe pot or pan over medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and fry until they've built up a deep golden crust all over. Remove from the pan and place to one side. Work in batches if you need to and add a drizzle of oil in between if the pan dries out.
- Lower the heat to medium and add the shallots to the leftover fat. Fry for a few mins until soft and golden, then add in the garlic & rosemary and fry for a further 30 seconds or so. Stir in the tomato puree and fry for 1 min, then pour in the crushed tomatoes. Fill each can about 1/3 the way up with water, swill then add that in too.
- Add in chicken stock, pasta, meatballs, basil and a pinch of salt & pepper. Give it all a good stir, bring to a simmer then lower the heat slightly. Simmer and stir until the pasta cooks right through and the sauce is thick and no longer watery (see video for consistency).
- Turn off the heat and stir through 2/3 of the parmesan until it fully blends, then check for seasoning and adjust with salt & pepper. Top with mozzarella and the rest of the parmesan, then place under the grill until deep golden and bubbly. Serve up and enjoy!
Video
Notes
a) What kind of pot should I use? - I use a deep 30cm cast-iron pan and it all just about fits. You could also use a large oven-safe pot. Alternatively just use a regular pot or pan and pour it into an oven-safe dish before grilling the cheese.
b) What kind of sausage should I use? - I use regular Cumberland sausages, however you can use different ones if you fancy. I recommend pork, as it pairs with the flavours best, but I imagine beef would also work. In all cases you want some good quality and fatty sausages, just for maximum flavour. If you don't have access to sausages just use minced/ground sausage meat. From there use a tsp to scoop the meat before rolling into meatballs.
c) Pasta - You'll find Anelli (hooped pasta) in Italian Grocers or online. I haven't found it in supermarkets before, but you might be lucky! If you can't find it, just sub for other tiny pasta i.e elbow macaroni.
d) Consistency - It'll seem like a lot of liquid at the start, but it all gets soaked up. The sauce should be pretty thick before adding the cheese and certainly not watery at all. If it's still a little watery just continue to simmer until it reduces. If the pasta is still not fully cooked before the sauce reduces, just add in more boiling water a splash at a time until the pasta cooks.
e) Serving - I usually just serve this with Garlic Bread, but it's totally optional.
f) Calories - Whole recipe divided by 5.
Nutrition
Calories: 953kcal | Carbohydrates: 76.33g | Protein: 38.47g | Fat: 55.85g | Saturated Fat: 21.922g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6.591g | Monounsaturated Fat: 23.46g | Trans Fat: 0.141g | Cholesterol: 137mg | Sodium: 1609mg | Potassium: 1020mg | Fiber: 12.5g | Sugar: 5.89g | Vitamin A: 1555IU | Vitamin C: 26.3mg | Calcium: 435mg | Iron: 3.91mg