Whenever the weather starts to cool, I look forward to making this sausage and cranberry pasta dish.
The ingredients themselves are very festive – little cocktail pork sausages (not wrapped in bacon, unfortunately) and sweet dried cranberries do make you think of Christmas dinner.
Children absolutely love this pasta dish – it’s very similar to those tins of spaghetti hoops and sausages, after all.
If you’re not a fan of sweet food this probably isn’t for you; although if you left out the apple sauce and instead stirred in half a tin of anchovies with the onion, you could make a seriously savoury version which would be delicious too. If you did this, it would need some fresh chopped parsley stirred in to lift it.
Looking for more festive recipes? You might also like:
- Fruity Christmas Cake
- Christmas Cake Porridge
- Christmas Mac and Cheese
- Leftover Ham Pie
- Classic Baked Ham
- Ginger Mince Pies
- Mulled Wine Roast Duck
- Festive Sausage Rolls
- Christmas Frittata
- Christmas Muffins
- Christmas Breakfast Pancakes
The Ingredients
- Raw cocktail sausages – don’t be tempted to use precooked ones, it just won’t be the same. Use good quality cocktail sausages – your butcher will be your best bet to get some good ones.
- Butter – this starts off the sauce. Don’t switch for oil – you need the butter to make that rich sauce.
- Onion – a brown or yellow one.
- Dried cranberries – make sure you use dried and not fresh. Dried cranberries are sweeter, less juicy and work better in this dish.
- Apple sauce– this brings just a touch extra sweetness and makes this spaghetti absolutely delicious.
- Parmesan – balances out the sweetness when you serve. Perfect!
Top Tips
- Cooking the sauce This is a really simple sauce: You simply sauté the onions in the butter until slightly soft, then add the dried cranberries, cooked sausages, apple sauce and a splash of water.
- Get ahead You can cook the sausages in advance, but if you do this make sure you heat them thoroughly in the sauce before serving.
- Additions You could wilt some spinach in the sauce at the end, or add some tender stem broccoli when you start cooking the onions.
Sausage and Cranberry Spaghetti
Ingredients
- 30 raw cocktail sausages
- 25 grams butter
- 1 onion
- 150 grams dried cranberries
- 1 tablespoon apple sauce
- 400 grams dried spaghetti
- Grated parmesan to serve
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees and cook the cocktail sausages for 20 minutes, until crisp and golden.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the spaghetti according to packet instructions.
- In a saute pan, melt the butter over a medium heat and add the chopped onion. Cook for 3 minutes, then add the cooked sausages and cranberries. Add the apple sauce and 50ml water, stir and simmer until the apple sauce has dissolved. Season with salt and pepper.
- When the spaghetti is cooked, drain and stir in the sauce. Serve topped with plenty of grated parmesan.
