• 200g dried orecchiette or fusilli, penne, farfalle – just not a long pasta shape
• Two good Italian sausages
• Crushed fennel seeds
• 100g friarielli
• One shallot, finely diced
• One clove of garlic, finely diced
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• A splash of white wine
• Parmesan
• One triangle of Laughing Cow/one tbsp mascarpone or ricotta

Set a big pot of salted water to boil. In the meantime, heat a little olive oil over a medium heat. Remove the sausage from its casing and break up in the pan with a little seasoning. Cook until just starting to colour, then add the shallot, fennel seed, chilli flakes and garlic and turn the heat down. Add a splash of wine. Cook gently as you proceed with the pasta.

Cook the pasta for 90 seconds short of the recommended cooking time. 30 seconds before that, add the chopped friarielli to the pan with the sausages and toss. Using the spider, transfer the pasta to the pan with the sausages and the friarielli, add three ladles worth of pasta water and turn the heat up to the rapid boil. Add the cheeses and keep tossing and moving until all is lightly glossy with a creamy sauce.

Serve, finish with more parmesan.