Step 1

Put a good glug of oil in a pan that’s large enough comfortably to hold all the ingredients once cooked, and set it over a low-medium heat.

Step 2

Once the oil is hot, sweat the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, bay, rosemary, fennel seeds and chilli, if using, stirring occasionally, for 15-20 minutes, until browned.

Step 3

Add the sausagemeat and cook, stirring continuously to prevent large clusters from forming. After about 10 minutes, once the sausage is golden, deglaze with the white wine and cook until you can no longer smell the alcohol.

Step 4

Add the chicken stock, turn down the heat to low, cover the pan, simmer for 45 minutes, then season to taste.

Step 5

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add enough salt to make it resemble mild seawater. Cook the penne for a minute less than the package instructions say, then drain and reserve two mugs of the pasta cooking water.

Step 6

Tip the pasta into the ragu and cook, stirring well, on a low heat for a minute, adding splashes of the reserved water if the mix starts to look dry.

Step 7

Stir in the shredded radicchio and serve at once with lots of grated parmesan.