Willy’s White Ragu Pappardelle
There's a certain kind of ragu that gets all the attention — the deep red, slow-bubbling kind, thick with tomato and time. This is not that ragu. This is its quieter, creamier cousin — no tomato in sight, just sausage, sweet soffritto, a splash of wine, and a whisper of milk, simmered low and slow until it turns silky, savoury, and impossible to stop eating. It is based on a ragu bianca, but this is Willy’s version, which has been a little willified.
Fennel and fennel seeds do a lot of the heavy lifting here, lending an aniseed warmth that plays beautifully against the richness of the sausage, while a good glug of lemon at the end cuts through and keeps things bright. Finished with parmesan and tossed through ribbons of pappardelle, it's the kind of dish that feels like a proper Sunday: cosy, unfussy, and worth the wait.
Ingredients Serves 2
200g dried pappardelle, or 300g if using fresh
4 pork sausages
2 shallots, diced
½ head fennel, diced
2 sticks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp dried rosemary
½ tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
150ml whole milk
150ml white wine
1 lemon, juiced
1 vegetable stock cube
100g Parmesan cheese
Method
Heat up a pan over a medium high heat with a generous amount of olive oil. Desheath the sausages and add them to the pan. Break them up with a wooden spoon and fry until heavily browned. Season heavily with black pepper. Remove from the pan and set aside for later.
Boil the kettle with a cup full of water.
Add the diced shallot, celery and fennel and deglaze the pan with the white wine. Fry the vegetables until softened.
Add the fennel seeds, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves and garlic and cook for a further minute.
Add the milk, the vegetable stock cube and 150ml hot water from the kettle.
You can cover the pan with a lid and transfer to the oven to cook gently for a further 45 minutes until the sauce has thickened and the flavours intensified, or if you prefer, continue cooking gently on a low heat, with the lid on.
Bring a separate pan of salted water to the boil, and add your pappadelle. Cook just before al dente.
Finish the ragu with a squeeze of lemon juice, and 50g of parmesan grated in. Season to taste. Add the pasta, along with a touch of pasta water, and mix until the pasta is well saturated with sauce.
Plate, and finish with a fresh grating of parmesan cheese.
