Servings
4
Ready In:
15min
Good For:
Lunch, Dinner or Quick Snack
Ingredients
- 500g dried spaghetti
- 350g pork mince
- 1 lrg onion- finely chopped
- 150g rocket leaves-picked, washed and drained
- 400ml cream
- 150ml milk
- 30ml olive oil
- 3tsp tomato puree
- 3 cloves garlic-minced
- 1tsp chicken stock powder
- 1/2 tsp lemon zest
- 1/2 lemon-juice only
- 1/4tsp fennel seed-crushed
- 4tsp grated parmesan
- salt and pepper to taste
- black pepper, parmesan and extra virgin olive oil to serve
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1
I’m not a fan of over-reduced creamy pasta dishes as they taste greasy and don’t have a good mouth feel at all.
If you follow these recommendations for creamy pasta sauces, you’ll hopefully recognise the difference.
Lets start by heating a large frying pan over a high heat for 2mins. Add olive oil, onions and fennel and fry until softened and lightly brown, about 3mins.
Step 2
Put a large pot of salted water on to boil (with a lid).
Retaining the frying pan over a high heat, add the pork mince, season, and fry for 3mins until lightly coloured.
Add lemon zest, stock powder, garlic and tomato puree, stir through the pork.
Add cream and milk to the pork mince, reduce the heat to medium high and reduce the sauce for 2mins.
Step 3
Once the water boils, add the pasta and stir every few mins until cooked to al dente (approximately 9mins depending on brand).
Please ensure not to reduce the cream sauce too much. The sauce will appear to be quite thin in consistency when you remove from the heat. Season to taste.
Step 4
Once the pasta is cooked (it will have a slight bite to it), drain off in a colander and add to the sauce.
Move the pasta and sauce onto a high heat and rapidly cook while stirring until the sauce reduces to a sauce like consistency (it will coat the back of a spoon).
Season to taste. Add lemon juice, parmesan and rocket leaves to the pasta. Stir through and season if necessary.
Step 5
If you reduce the sauce too much, it will get greasy and will have that nasty mouth feel.
Once the pasta and sauce have been reduced, remove from the heat and leave to stand for 1-2mins.
As the pasta stands, it will slowly absorb the sauce and make the overall dish taste that much more superior, I promise.
Serve with freshly milled pepper, grated parmesan and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
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