Hot Lemon Asparagus Bucatini with a Scottish Twist!

Have you ever tried bucatini? (At least I think it's bucatini - it could well be maccheroncelli or perciatelli. If anyone knows the difference - check out below and let me know what you think!) It's a long hollow pasta, kind of a cross between spaghetti and macaroni, and it's perfect for eating with smooth sauces.

I picked up a packet of bucatini a few weeks ago, and set about making up a smooth sauce. This is from my backlog - when I constantly had a fridge full of asparagus and had just made my Scottish sausage.

Because I invented this all by myself, I'm sending it over to Lore at Culinarty for her Original Recipes event...

And because it's pastalicious I'm sending it to Michelle at the Greedy Gourmet, who is hosting Presto Pasta Night this week...

And (yes, another one!) because this is cheap as chips (or as close as!) it is going to be my first submission for Frugal Fridays - the whole thing will feed a family of four for less than $10! And it's super healthy!

Hot Lemon Asparagus Bucatini with Crunchy Sausage Topping!

Serves 4 messy people...

• 4 large tomatoes
• 12 thick spears of asparagus
• 1 onion
• 2 clove garlic
• 1/2 tsp hot sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
  
• The zest of one lemon
• 150g Scottish sausage meat (or substitute with another sausage meat. If you have to.)
• A couple of tbsps of fresh oregano leaves
• A little olive oil to fry
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• salt to taste
• bucatini to serve
  

Prepare the veg...
Trim the woody ends from the asparagus, and cut most of the spear into chunks - reserving the tips.
Chop up the onions and garlic - make 'em as chunky as you like - we're going to blitz it in the end anyway!
Chop up the tomatoes, skin, seeds and all.

Make the sauce...
Heat the olive oil over a medium heat, add the onions and garlic, then fry for a few minutes until softening. Throw in the tomatoes (along with any juice), the lemon zest, hot sauce and the tomato puree. Add the sugar and some salt - you can always add more salt later to taste, but it is better to add it as early as possible.

Cover and simmer for 15 minutes - the tomatoes should release enough liquid to make the sauce, but if not, top up with water or stock.

Make the Crunchy Sausage Topping...
Meanwhile, break up the sausage meat into lumps and place into a medium, hot pan. You shouldn't need any oil as the sausage will release plenty. Fry for 5-6 minutes, keeping the sausage moving, breaking it up as it cooks. Once cooked, turn up the heat to high and fry for a minute or two without moving it to give a crunchy edge to the meat.

Finish the sauce...
After the 15 minutes is up, put in most of the oregano and the bits of asparagus stem - reserving the tips. Cook for another couple of minutes, then remove from the heat.

Put the sauce into a liquidiser or use a hand blender to blitz it to a smooth sauce.

Return to the heat, add the asparagus tips and cook for 3-4 minutes.

Put it all together!
Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet, then add to the pot of sauce. Mix well, so that the sauce sooks* into the pasta. Place into a bowl, top with the crunchy sausage pieces and the remaining oregano.

Eat!
This was the hardest bit - this is seriously messy pasta to eat! It was on the floor, face, sofa and cat by the time I was done. Worth it though!!



* Although not really a Scottish Scran post - the addition of the square sausage definitely warranted disclosure of another Scottish word!

Sook (v) - to suck

The best way tae eat this is tae sook it a' up an no worry aboot the mess yer makin'

Alternate use:
Sook (n) - a suck up/ brown-nose/ teacher's pet!
See her? She's a wee sook so'n she is!

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