Sausage, Chilli and Kale Pasta

Zest and juice the lemon. Finely chop or mince the garlic. Cut the sun dried tomatoes into strips. Prepare the kale by stripping the leaves from the stems, tearing the leaves into pieces, and slicing the stems very finely. To prepare the sausages, squeeze the meat from the casings onto a plate and form small, roughly shaped meatballs.

Step 2
Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and follow the packet instructions to cook until al dente. Reserve a cup of pasta water, then drain and set aside.

Step 3
While the pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a large frypan over medium-high heat. Cook the sausage pieces for 4-5 minutes, shaking the pan often, until browned all over. Transfer the sausage from the pan to a plate lined with paper towel.

Step 4
In the same pan, fry the sliced kale stems with a pinch of salt for 2-3 minutes or until bright green. Add the kale leaves a handful at a time, cooking for 3-4 minutes between each handful, until softened.

Step 5
Add garlic, sun dried tomatoes, fennel seeds, and chilli flakes to the pan. Cook, stirring often for a few minutes. Return the sausage to the pan and gently combine.

Step 6
Add the cooked pasta to the fry pan with the reserved pasta water, butter and lemon juice and zest, and gently simmer for a few minutes until glossy. Turn off the heat and stir through the parmesan. Taste and add more salt, lemon juice or chilli flakes if needed.

Step 7
Plate up and serve with extra parmesan on top.