Freezer-Batch Sausage and Fennel Ragu

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

One pot, twelve ingredients, and four weeknight dinners banked in the freezer. Italian sausage, sweet carrot and crushed tomatoes simmer into a thick, glossy ragu with a warm hint of fennel. There's no cream or cheese in the pot, which is exactly why it thaws back to the same silky sauce it was on day one — no splitting, no watery puddle. Cook it Sunday, flatten it into bags, and pull one out over pasta, gnocchi or polenta whenever the week gets away from you.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 lb Italian sausages, casings removed
• 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 medium carrots, finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 cup dry red wine (or beef stock)
• 2 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and black pepper

Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the sausage meat and cook 8-10 minutes, breaking it into small crumbles with a wooden spoon, until deeply browned in patches.
2. Add the onion and carrot with a pinch of salt. Cook 8 minutes over medium heat, stirring, until softened and starting to color.
3. Stir in the garlic, fennel seeds, oregano and tomato paste. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until the paste darkens to brick red and smells toasty.
4. Pour in the wine and scrape up every brown bit from the bottom of the pot. Simmer 3 minutes until nearly evaporated.
5. Add both cans of crushed tomatoes, the bay leaves, 1 cup water, 1 teaspoon salt and plenty of black pepper. Bring to a bubble, then reduce to low and simmer uncovered 45-55 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until thick enough to hold a trail behind the spoon. Fish out the bay leaves and taste for salt.
6. Cool the ragu quickly and completely before freezing: set the pot in a sink of cold water for about 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until it is no longer warm to the touch. Never freeze it hot or it will weep when thawed.
7. Portion into 4 zip-top freezer bags (about 2 cups each), press flat, squeeze out the air, label with the date and freeze flat for up to 3 months. TO REHEAT: thaw overnight in the fridge and warm in a saucepan over medium-low for 8-10 minutes with a splash of water, or reheat from frozen in a covered saucepan over low heat for 20-25 minutes, breaking up the block and stirring often. Microwave from frozen in a covered bowl at 50% power for 10-12 minutes, stirring twice.

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Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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