When in Lancashire, it would be criminal not to buy some of the fabulous sausages handmade at the local butchers. So I did, and this is what I made using the wild garlic pesto made the other day from our foraging.

Wild garlic has a short season — a few weeks in spring when it carpets woodland floors and fills the air with that unmistakeable garlicky scent. If you can forage it, do. If you cannot, a good wild garlic pesto from a deli will do the job, though it will never quite match the satisfaction of having picked it yourself. The combination of wild garlic with fennel-spiked sausage meat is one of those flavour pairings that feels obvious once you have tried it and impossible to improve upon.

Lancashire sausages deserve a mention of their own. Proper butcher's sausages — coarse-ground, well-seasoned, and with a decent fat content — make all the difference here. Supermarket sausages will work, but if you are near a good butcher, use them.

Ingredients for Wild Garlic Sausage Pasta

4 Pork & red pepper sausages
4 Cumberland sausages
2 teaspoons fennel seed
2 dried red chillies
Wild garlic pesto
Olive oil
Parmesan cheese, grated
Flat leaf parsley
Lemon zest
Black pepper

Method for Wild Garlic Sausage Pasta

Slice the sausages and remove the meat, discarding the skins, then place in a large frying pan over medium heat with a splash of olive oil. As the meat cooks, break it up with a wooden spoon so it looks like large breadcrumbs.

Place the fennel seeds and chillies in a pestle and mortar and grind away until your arm is ready to drop off.

When the meat has started to brown, stir in the ground mixture and continue cooking.

Meanwhile, cook pasta of your choice (I used penne because that's what was in the cupboard) to al dente. When done, drain, keeping back a little of the cooking liquid. Stir through the pesto together with the zest.

Pour the pasta and liquid into a large bowl and place the browned meat over it. Sprinkle with parmesan, black pepper and parsley...

Goes well with Primitivo and family love.

This is a recipe that benefits from being eaten immediately, straight from the bowl, while the pasta is still hot and the sausage meat still has a little crispness to it. It does not improve with sitting.

This recipe is part of my Pasta Recipes collection. It joins a growing collection of pasta dishes — from quick weeknight suppers to slow-cooked ragù and baked Italian classics — in my complete Pasta Recipes hub.

Wonky photos, proper pasta, genuine adventures — The Flexible Che