Casarecce with Scorched Pachino Tomatoes, Fennel Sausage & Toasted Almonds

 A Sicilian-Umbria love story in a bowl

Some dishes don’t rely on technique — they rely on the beauty of perfect ingredients. This plate is exactly that. Sweet, sun-charged Pachino tomatoes, fennel-perfumed Italian sausage, salted capers, toasted almonds, fresh pecorino from Umbria, basil, and a drizzle of your very best olive oil.

It tastes like Sicily on holiday in Perugia.

Ingredients

300–350 g casarecce

250 g Italian fennel sausage, casing removed

250–300 g Pachino cherry tomatoes

A small handful of toasted almonds

1 tablespoon salted capers, rinsed

Fresh pecorino (Umbrian if you have it), grated

Fresh basil leaves

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

Method

1. Scorch the Pachino tomatoes in a hot pan with a film of olive oil until they blister, caramelise and collapse.

2. Add the toasted almonds and stirr into a rough sauce (leave some texture).

3. In the same pan, brown the fennel sausage well, breaking it into rustic chunks.

4. Add the tomato–almond sauce back in. Stir through the rinsed salted capers. Add a splash of white wine.

5. Cook the casarecce al dente, reserve a splash of pasta water, and toss into the sauce.

6. Finish with grated fresh pecorino, basil leaves, and a generous drizzle of top-quality olive oil.

Why this works

Because everything hangs on Pachino tomatoes — their sweetness, perfume and natural intensity. The sausage adds warmth and fennel aromatics, the capers bring salinity, the almonds add depth, and the fresh pecorino melts into the sauce without overpowering it.

It is all about the ingredients. Freshly grated artesan pecorino, your best olive oil, handmade sausage.

It’s simple, sunny and deeply satisfying.

Drink with a crisp white wine.  Sicilian Etna Bianco or Yarden Golan Heights Chardonnay.

Here are other great pasta recipes:

Linguine with Gorgonzola cream and Marsala sweet red onions

Florentine pasta sauce