Name: Sausage and mushroom pasticciata
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 150 min
Total time: 195 min
Yield: 6 - 8
Ingredients: 375 ml pouring cream (1½ cups); 200 gm finely grated parmesan; 375 gm buffalo mozzarella (3 small balls), sliced; Sausage and mushroom ragù; 40 gm dried mushrooms, such as porcini; 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 onion, finely chopped; 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 750 gm pork and fennel sausages, skins removed; 200 ml red wine; 800 gm canned chopped tomatoes or tomato polpa; 3 thyme sprigs, plus extra to serve; 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, or to taste; Parmesan polenta; 250 gm coarse polenta; 50 gm finely grated parmesan; 50 gm butter, diced

Sausage and mushroom pasticciata

Pasticcio, or pasticciata, means mess in Italian, and this glorious mess of polenta, mozzarella, and a sausage and mushroom ragù is comfort food at its best.

Serves 6 - 8

Prep

45M

Cook

2H 30M

Total

3H 15M

Pasticcio, or pasticciata, means mess in Italian, and this glorious mess of polenta, mozzarella, and a sausage and mushroom ragù is comfort food at its best. A salad will balance out the richness.

Ingredients

375 ml pouring cream (1½ cups)

200 gm finely grated parmesan

375 gm buffalo mozzarella (3 small balls), sliced

Sausage and mushroom ragù

40 gm dried mushrooms, such as porcini

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

750 gm pork and fennel sausages, skins removed

200 ml red wine

800 gm canned chopped tomatoes or tomato polpa

3 thyme sprigs, plus extra to serve

1 tbsp red wine vinegar, or to taste

Parmesan polenta

250 gm coarse polenta

50 gm finely grated parmesan

50 gm butter, diced

Method

Main

1.For sausage and mushroom ragù, place mushrooms in a bowl with 375ml hot water and leave to soak. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add onion and garlic and sauté until softened and translucent (4-5 minutes). Add sausage, and cook, breaking up into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until evenly browned (2-4 minutes). Deglaze pan with wine and simmer until reduced by half (2-3 minutes). Add tomato, thyme sprigs and mushrooms with their soaking liquid, season to taste and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thick and well flavoured (50 minutes to 1 hour). Discard thyme, stir in vinegar and check seasoning.

2.Meanwhile, for parmesan polenta, butter a 24cm x 33cm slice pan and line it with baking paper. Bring 1.75 litres well-salted water to the boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat and gradually add polenta, whisking continuously to combine. Reduce heat to as low as it can go and simmer, whisking occasionally, then more frequently as the mixture thickens, and cook until the polenta no longer feels grainy on your tongue (30-35 minutes). Whisk in parmesan and butter until melted and combined, then pour into prepared tray, smooth top with a wet palette knife and refrigerate until chilled and firm (1 hour).

3.Meanwhile, simmer cream in a saucepan until reduced by half (3-4 minutes), then stir in 120gm of the parmesan, season to taste and set aside.

4.Preheat oven to 180C. Cut out 6.5cm-diameter rounds from the polenta with a biscuit cutter and place a layer in the base of a lightly oiled 3.5-litre baking dish (roughly 23cm square), filling in any gaps with the polenta offcuts. Spoon ragù over, drizzle with half the parmesan cream and scatter with half the parmesan. Season, then top with another layer of polenta rounds and parmesan cream, layer mozzarella on top and scatter with remaining parmesan. Bake until golden brown and bubbling (1-1¼ hours). Stand for 15 minutes, scatter with extra thyme and serve.