Rigatoni with fennel sausage sauce

Name: Rigatoni with fennel sausage sauce
Prep time: 12 min
Cook time: 21 min
Total time: 33 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 2½ tbsp olive oil; 6 cut into 1.5cm-thick slices Italian fennel sausages; 1 large peeled and chopped onion; 1 trimmed and roughly chopped; reserve any fronds to garnish fennel bulb; ½ tsp smoky paprika; 1 clove, peeled and sliced garlic; 2 tsp lightly toasted and then gently crushed fennel seeds; 100ml red wine; 400g tinned chopped tomatoes; ½ tsp caster sugar; 50g cut in half lengthways pitted black olives; 500g rigatoni; 30g roughly crumbled into 0.5cm pieces pecorino; 1 rinsed and patted dry anchovy fillet; 1 clove, peeled and crushed garlic; 60ml olive oil; 50g torn basil leaves

By The Spice & Simmer Kitchen · Published May 3, 2026

A one-pot Lamb recipe with Italian flavors, built for busy weeknights when you want real food without a sink full of dishes. Comes together in roughly 51 minutes, serves about 4, and uses ingredients you can find at any normal grocery store. The technique is simple: build a base in your pot, layer in the main ingredients, simmer until everything has had time to talk to each other, and serve straight from the pan. If you're cooking for picky eaters, this one tends to land — the flavors are recognizable, the texture is comforting, and there's nothing weird hiding in the ingredient list. Perfect for the kind of evening where you want dinner on the table by 7pm and the kitchen empty by 7:30.

Ingredients

Makes 4 servings · 33 min total

2½ tbsp Olive Oil
6 cut into 1.5cm-thick slices Italian Fennel Sausages
1 large peeled and chopped Onion
1 trimmed and roughly chopped; reserve any fronds to garnish Fennel Bulb
½ tsp Smoky Paprika
1 clove, peeled and sliced Garlic
2 tsp lightly toasted and then gently crushed Fennel Seeds
100ml Red Wine
400g tinned Chopped Tomatoes
½ tsp Caster Sugar
50g cut in half lengthways Pitted Black Olives
500g Rigatoni
30g roughly crumbled into 0.5cm pieces Pecorino
1 rinsed and patted dry Anchovy Fillet
1 clove, peeled and crushed Garlic
60ml Olive Oil
50g torn Basil Leaves

Step-by-step instructions

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large saute pan for which you have a lid. Add the sausage pieces and fry on a medium-high heat for 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until golden-brown all over. Transfer the sausages to a plate, then add the onion and fennel to the hot pan and fry for 15 minutes, stirring once in a while, until soft and caramelised; if the pan goes a bit dry, add a teaspoon or so of extra oil. Stir in the paprika, garlic and half the fennel seeds, fry for two minutes more, then pour on the wine and boil for 30 seconds, to reduce by half. Add the tomatoes, sugar, 100ml water, the seared sausage and half a teaspoon of salt, cover and simmer for 30 minutes; remove the lid after 10 minutes, and cook until the sauce is thick and rich. Remove from the heat, stir through the olives and remaining fennel seeds and set aside until you’re ready to serve.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 12-14 minutes (or according to the instructions on the packet), until al dente. Meanwhile, reheat the sauce. Drain the pasta, return it to the pot, stir in a tablespoon of oil, then divide between the bowls.
Put all the pesto ingredients except the basil in the small bowl of a food processor. Add a tablespoon of water and blitz to a rough paste. Add the basil, then blitz until just combined (the pesto has a much better texture if the basil is not overblended).
Spoon over the ragù and top with a spoonful of pesto. Finish with a sprinkling of chopped fennel fronds, if you have any, and serve at once.

Why this works on a weeknight

Rigatoni with fennel sausage sauce lands at about 33 minutes total — a little longer than our 30-minute target, but most of that time is hands-off simmering, which is why it earned a spot in our Skillet & One-Pan collection. The technique is forgiving, the ingredient list is grocery-store standard, and the active cooking time is short enough that you can answer a text message in the middle without ruining dinner.

Cleanup notes

This is a single-pan recipe, so the cleanup is exactly one pan, one cutting board, and one knife. While the dish rests, fill the pan with hot soapy water — by the time you are done eating, the residue lifts off with a single pass of a sponge. Skip the steel wool on cast iron; a stiff brush and warm water are all you need to keep the seasoning intact.

Make-ahead and leftovers

Leftovers keep covered in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat in a dry pan over medium-low with a splash of water or stock to loosen the sauce. Rigatoni with fennel sausage sauce actually improves overnight as the flavors keep talking to each other, so doubling the recipe and packing tomorrow's lunch is a high-leverage weeknight move.

Filed under 🥘 Skillet & One-Pan Lamb Italian Pasta