Today was Luca’s School Fete and he had a ball. The weather was perfect and it was all so terribly English, especially with cream teas being served. Luca is such a sunny little character and always fun to be with, he loves his food and loves to help cook. I say cook, what I mean is, that he usually licks the bowl!

Today we thought it would be fun for him to make sausages with Hubby, well that was the plan. When it came down to it, Hubby just got on with it and forgot to ask him to help. Oh well, he still really enjoyed them and there is always next time.

This really was a lovely meal, another recipe from “Two Greedy Italians”, very distinct taste with the fennel seeds, but if you don’t like them, you can either leave them out or experiment with other flavours. Try sage, rosemary, oregano, or even basil. We served ours with pasta to bulk the meal out, as usual we had quite a few to feed!

I must say that the pepper sauce is truly amazing and would work just as well alone as a pasta serve, so much flavour and the smell of the peppers roasting, is just divine.

Buon appetito

(Photo’s of Luca & Hubby taken in Tuscany, Easter 2010)

1kg minced pork
1 teaspoon chopped red chilli
1 garlic clove, finely crushed
1 teaspoon fennel seeds
100ml red wine
4 tablespoons olive oil
salt & freshly ground black pepper

Sauce:
2 large red peppers
2 large yellow peppers
1 tablespoon salted capers, soaked for 30 minutes, then drained
1 garlic clove sliced
1/2 red chilli, finely chopped
5 anchovy fillets
olive oil

Mix the pork, chilli, garlic, fennel seeds and red wine together in a medium-sized bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Using your hands (this is the part I thought Luca would enjoy), divide the mixture into twelve and roll each piece into a sausage shape roughly 8cm in diameter. You could also make them into ball shapes, serve with the sauce & pasta of your choice.

To prepare the sauce, heat a cast-iron griddle on the hob. Grill the peppers on all sides until the skins are black. If like us you don’t have a cast-iron griddle you can just put them under the grill on your cooker like Hubby did. If you have a gas hob they can just as easily be charred over this.

Leave to cool a little, then peel off the skin. Cut open and remove the seeds. Put the flesh in a blender with all the other ingredients except the oil, and blend to a puree. Pour in enough oil, stirring all the while, until you have a sauce like consistency.

Heat the olive oil in a large non-stick pan. Gently place the sausages into the pan and fry over a medium heat until golden on all sides, about 10 minutes. Serve with the sauce.