Smoked sausage stroganoff

This is a Swedish comfort-food classic. It’s usually served with rice, but Rachel serves hers with pasta, and adds a few capers or elderberry capers to the sauce for a bit of a kick.

Smoked sausage stroganoff Credit: My Swedish Kitchen

• serves

  4

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 20 g butter
• 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 350 g falukorv or smoked sausage, very finely diced
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp paprika
• 130 ml single cream
• sea salt and black pepper
• 400 g tagliatelle or pappardelle
• 2 tbsp elderberry capers or regular capers
• 1 handful fresh chives, finely chopped

Instructions

1. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil for the tagliatelle or pappardelle.

2. Put the butter, onion and sausage into a large pan. Fry, stirring occasionally, until the sausage and onion are golden.

3. Add the tomato puree, mustard, paprika and cream, continuing to stir so the flavours mingle, and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning and adjust to taste.

4. Add the pasta to the pan of boiling water. Cook for 7 minutes (or according to packet instructions). Drain the pasta, reserving a small mugful (around 80ml) of pasta water.

5. Add the mug of pasta water to the sausage sauce. Stir in with the capers and remove from the heat.

6. Toss the pasta in the sauce until well coated, and sprinkle over the chives. Serve immediately.

Note

• The sauce can be made the day before (just don't add the chives at this stage) and then warmed up gently when you need it. You can also freeze the sauce in an airtight container for up to a month. Simply add the pasta water as stated above just before serving, and cook the pasta fresh.

Vegetarian version

The sausage can be replaced with 350 g finely diced aubergine and a teaspoon of smoked paprika instead of regular paprika.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.