Sausage Fusilli with Spinach and Garlic Sauce

Bash the fennel seeds and dried chillies in a mortar and pestle and set aside.

Warm a splash of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Slit the sausage skins and squeeze the meat into the pan, breaking it up with a wooden spoon until it looks like coarse mince. Fry for a few minutes until it starts to colour and the fat renders out.

Stir in the fennel seeds and chillies and cook over medium heat for around 10 minutes until the meat turns crisp, dark and caramelised, then turn the heat down low.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the garlic cloves and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, then add the spinach leaves and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes until wilted. Lift the garlic and spinach into a food processor. Drop the fusilli into the same water and cook to packet instructions.

Blitz the garlic and spinach to a deep green sauce, then loosen it with the olive oil and season with the lemon zest, salt and pepper.

Once the pasta is al dente, drain it, keeping back some of the cooking water. Toss the pasta back through the pan with a splash of that water and a squeeze of lemon juice, then stir through the green sauce to coat.

Divide the pasta between bowls, scatter the crisp sausage meat over, and grate the Parmesan on top, if using.