Possibly the best sandwich EVER ... And my Quick & Easy Porky Penne

I am a HUGE fan of food markets and London is blessed with some amazing street food vendors, so I was keen to find out what delights the one on Southbank had to offer. I was not disappointed... so many stalls with so many delicious things on offer. I had to have a good prowl around before making a decision.

It was a tough choice, especially with all the free tasters being handed out, however, as soon as I saw the hog-roast I knew what I had to do... 

This is one of the best sandwiches I have ever had. Soft ciabatta, spread with a choice of hot or sweet chilli sauce (I went for sweet chilli), rocket, pulled pork and then crackling (or 'pig skin' as they called it, but that creeps me out a little). I think I might have to go back ASAP for another one. The only down side was that it was a little bit greasy and I managed to get grease on my favourite jeans and my coat sleeve as it dribbled out the sandwich and down my arm during the 'photo-shoot'... that will teach me not to play with my food! The greasy dribbling also meant spending the rest of the afternoon smelling like my lunch. But it was worth it. I also had a slice of caramel cheesecake for dessert which I stupidly didn't take a photo of.... but I can tell you it was a wonderfully big slice and it was delicious.  

I also have a recipe for you (finally)... it was created out of desperation after many MANY pasta and cheese/red pesto pasta meals. It is a really quick and easy pasta dish with everything ready in less than 20 mins.

PORKY PASTA

Difficulty

Easy

Timing

20 mins

Serves:

4 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 packet of good quality sausages
• 1 small onion ~ finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic ~ finely chopped
• 1 x 400g tinned tomatoes
• oregano
• good quality Italian olive oil
• 100g penne per person
• Optional: chilli flakes/fresh chilli ~ for a hot sauce
• Optional: greek yoghurt ~ for a creamier sauce

METHOD

1. Put a large saucepan of salted water on a high heat for the pasta.
2. Place the onion and olive oil in a large frying pan and fry on a medium heat until the onions are soft. 
3. Add the garlic and fry for minute - be careful not to burn the garlic as this will make the sauce bitter.
4. Add fresh chilli if you want a hot sauce - remember to check how hot your chillies/chilli flakes are before adding them to avoid inedible spicy pasta! 
5. Take the sausage meat out of their skins and add it to the frying pan, discarding the skins.
6. Fry the mix, breaking up the sausage meat as it cooks until it is almost cooked.
7. Put the pasta in the boiling water and cook according to instructions on the pack.
8. Add the tinned tomatoes to the sausage meat mix and a pinch of oregano, salt and pepper
9. Add a tablespoon of greek yoghurt for a creamier sauce
10. Drain pasta and combine with sausage sauce.

And thats it! There are all sorts of interesting sausages you can use in this sauce which will give the sauce a little flavour twist, e.g the sun-dried tomato and pesto sausages available at Sainsbury's, so you can get a little experimental. Just make sure your sausages have a high meat content to ensure a delicious meaty sauce.  

Good luck and have fun! 

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