You can make this dish without too much fuss while getting on with something else. It keeps well in the fridge for a couple of days. So, you can guzzle it on the day you make it or cool, refrigerate and use later when you feel like a tasty low-effort lunch or dinner.
This recipe makes sufficient for 2 to 3 adults dependent on how piggy you are. Although the overall cooking time is a couple of hours, the hard part takes less than 30 mins.
Shopping List
3 cloves of garlic; crushed or very finely chopped
1 large red onion (or any large onion, really); diced
4 or 5 sweet pointed peppers (Ramiro peppers)
1 x 400g tin chopped plum tomatoes
1 vegetable stock cube or jelly (or even fresh)
200 to 2020g cavolo nero (Lacinato, black kale, Tuscan kale, blah, blah, blah); cut across the leaves in thick strips (as it is in many pre-cut packs)
3 or 4 pork or beef sausages — because of the way it's cooked, it doesn't need any fancy sausages with intricate contents. It works best with basic bangers. It also work well with types of salsiccia, but not the sort that has big chunky bits of gristly fat
Pasta; a chunkier variety e.g. penne, fusilli, paccheri, etc. Or, alternatively, gnocchi
A glass of wine; red or white (optional)
Extra virgin olive oil
Cooking Method
Before we kick off, a note on seasoning. This is one of many dishes I cook with practically no seasoning. Why? (I hear you scream). Mainly because most of the flavours you want to draw out are in the ingredients. For example, unless you're a salt addict, you don't really need more salt in dishes that have stock added. Similarly, you can obviously hot it up with cracked black pepper or by adding chillies, but they can overpower some of the more subtle flavours you want to draw out in the sauce. The same goes for herbs like basil or oregano that, while delicious, can also "flatten" the flavour of the cavolo nero.
In a fairly large pot, heat a liberal dousing of olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of the pan) on a high heat. When hot, add the garlic, stirring to prevent sticking
As it turns golden, add the diced onions, stirring vigorously. Sweat the onions and garlic, covering to keep in the moisture. Make sure you stir it it every couple of minutes to prevent sticking/burning. However, because you need to keep the heat high, add olive oil as needed
Once the onions start to soften and become translucent, push them to the sides of the pot, creating an empty space in the middle of the pan. Add a little more oil
As soon as the oil has heated, place the whole, raw sausages into the empty centre of the pan, turning so that the oil seals the skin. Prick with a fork to prevent bursting. Stir the onions around the sausages. Be fairly gentle: you want the sausages intact
Add the sliced sweet peppers and mix with the onions. Do this after the sausages have been in the pot for a few minutes. The intention is to seal the sausages, not to cook them
As soon as the peppers begin to soften, pour in about half a glass of wine, allowing it to cook off while stirring the contents
Before the wine has fully evaporated, pour in the chopped plum tomatoes and their juice. Stir the mixture and allow it to come back to the boil. Stir regularly as it boils on a high heat for about 10 mins
Boil the kettle, place the stock cube/jelly in the empty tomato can and dissolve. Fill the can with boiling water until approx. three quarters full
Pour in the stock mixture and the remaining wine, a bit at a time, each time allowing the contents to come back to the boil while stirring regularly
When all the liquid has been added, allow the contents to boil vigorously for a further 6 or 7 mins, stirring regularly to ensure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan
Cover and turn the heat down very low i.e. as low as possible while still ensuring that the contents simmer and bubble
Cook on a low heat for at least an hour, stirring every fifteen minutes or so. Then stir and gently pour the cavolo nero onto the top of the cooked sauce. Do not stir it it. Replace the lid and allow to simmer for at least 15 mins
Once the cavolo nero has softened, stir it into the sauce and allow to simmer for another 5 to 10 mins
Turn off the heat and, using a long, sharp knife, slice the sausages into thick slices while still in the pot. Stir them into the sauce
If you are eating it immediately, spoon over the drained pasta of choice that you've cooked to time that both are ready at roughly the same time
If cooking ahead for another day, allow the sauce to fully cool, decant to containers and refrigerate or freeze.
Variations
Veggie - Guess what: you don't add the sausages! I would be interested to see if it works with vegetarian sausage of the quorn variety, though I haven't tried this yet. What does is using whole small mushrooms instead.
Another good variation is, instead of seeing it as one pasta meal, to see it as the basis of two meals; one pasta and one not. Take out the whole sausages and plate them, spooning over a liberal amount of the sauce and serve with sautéed potatoes, salad or vegetables. And use the bulk of the sauce for a (kinda) veggie pasta/gnocchi meal another day.
Pairings
This is one of those dishes that I tend to cook ahead for weeknights when you really can't be bothered to make too much effort. So, I haven't really got any specific wine pairings. Obviously it will work well with many Italian reds but, as yet, nothing specific springs to mind.
What I can say definitely does work nicely is a simple non-alcoholic concoction of a little elderflower cordial and a dash of lime topped up with chilled sparkling water.
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