| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 10 min |
| Prep: | 30 min |
| Cook: | 40 min |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian fennel sausage, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes, drained, seeded and halved, with 1/2 cup juice reserved
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon saffron threads
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves, torn
- Kosher salt
- 3/4 pound spaghetti
- 1 cup shredded pecorino cheese
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring occasionally, until brown, about 7 minutes. Push to one side of the skillet and increase the heat to high. Add the tomatoes, stirring to break them up a bit, and cook until the edges brown and the oil turns red, about 6 minutes. Stir the sausage and tomatoes together.
- Add the garlic, bay leaves, fennel seeds and red pepper flakes to the skillet, then scatter the saffron over the mixture. Cook, stirring, about 2 minutes. Add the parsley, 1 cup basil and 1 teaspoon salt. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.
- Remove and discard the bay leaves.
- Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water. Add the spaghetti, cooking liquid and reserved tomato juice to the sausage sauce and toss, about 3 minutes. Top with the pecorino and the remaining 1/2 cup basil.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 815 |
| Total Fat | 52 g |
| Saturated Fat | 18 g |
| Carbohydrates | 54 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 7 g |
| Sugar | 8 g |
| Protein | 33 g |
| Cholesterol | 109 mg |
| Sodium | 1454 mg |
Reviews
We are currently on holiday in Sardinia, so my daughter and I decided to make something authentic for dinner. This fitted the bill perfectly – easy to make, good ingredients and looked really tasty. It lived up to expectations served with my daughter’s home made garlic bread and a few bottles of local beer☺
This is the best pasta sauce I’ve ever made. I added a little bit of red wine, but otherwise made just as the recipe says. I made 1/2 and it was plenty for two meals. The second time I did it, I found a sausage with more fennel and that made it even better.
Well, I did make this today. I want to like it, but, there is a very bold flavor that over powers. I will not make this again.
Delicious needs nothing more.. I used hot sausage. Easy to fix kitchen smells wonderful
. I used Parm instead of romano , but next time I will be sure I have the romano it would only make it better
. I used Parm instead of romano , but next time I will be sure I have the romano it would only make it better
Made it ahead of time for family coming over to dinner last week; after 4 hours in slow cooker it was the best sauce any of us have had. Not heavy like traditional sauce, this is lighter but very tasty, especially with fresh local sausage.
Its now my wifes favorite sauce, and I am making it for her again tonight.
This is one of the best if not the best pasta sauce I have ever made. I used homemade Italian sausage and doubled the amount of tomato sauce and pasta water. This was so quick and easy and came together a lot faster than what I read in the instructions. We will definitely make this again and again.
That was the best spaghetti sauce I have ever had! I used extra reserved tomato sauce instead of pasta water but that was my only change. It was incredible!
This is “hands down” THE best spaghetti sauce/marinara I have ever tried. I have made several different homemade recipes, but this is the best. I originally found this in the FN Magazine and ran across it again while looking for Thanksgiving recipes. I remembered how good it was, so I made it again last month. At this moment, I have 4 batches of the sauce in the freezer so I can have it any day of the week. Yes, it is that good. I agree with the other reviewer: It is really much easier to make than it looks, and the results are so worth it. Use the saffron- I think that might be the secret.
My niece made this recipe for us. Excellent flavors and textures – never thought to use saffron in spaghetti. A novice, she’s getting great instructions and recipes from the Food Network & Cooking shows. A very proud AuntyP.
Great flavors! Everyone really enjoyed this twist on a classic dish. I will definitely make it again.