GUIDE GOURMET: Italian sausage and tomato pasta

Just reading the ingredients and Paul’s instructions is making us feel hungry, so we can’t wait to cook this up and enjoy it, and we are sure you will, too.

Ingredients: two romano or red bell peppers, sliced, six tbsp extra virgin olive oil, four Italian sausages, thickly sliced, one 400g tin of cherry tomatoes, 200g of dried rigatoni or other pasta, cooked according to packet instructions, 150g of pecorini cheese, grated, a bunch of fresh tarragon, roughly chopped, and half a tsp of paprika.

Method: To char the peppers, thread them onto a skewer. Wearing an oven glove, hold them in the naked flame of a gas ring burner. Alternatively you can place them under a very hot grill, turning regularly, until the skins blacken and blister.

Place the charred peppers in a bowl, cover the bowl tightly with cling film and set aside for 15 minutes.

Using your fingers, peel off the blackened pepper skins and pull out and discard the seeds.

Tear the peppers into pieces, drizzle with two tbsp of the olive oil, and set aside.

Heat another two tbsp of olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat, and fry the slices of sausage for 10 minutes, or until nearly cooked.

Stir in the tomatoes and the skinned peppers, along with any olive oil and juices on the plate, and simmer for 5-10 minutes until you have a rich sauce.

Tip the cooked pasta, pecorino cheese, tarragon and paprika into the tomato sauce and stir everything together.

Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the pasta and serve.