Italian Sausage Pasta (easy recipe)
This Italian sausage pasta has become one of my favorite recipes for busy weeknights because it’s quick and easy to make and best of all you can make a big batch ahead of time and keep it for a few days or even freeze it for later. The whole family will love it!
It goes great with a simple tomato sauce and I like to add some greens leaves such as kale in winter or spinach to make a healthier and complete meal.
What is salsiccia?
The Italian sausage is known as salsiccia, which simply means sausage in Italian.
It is a sausage made from pork. The most famous Italian sausage is the one seasoned with fennel seeds which gives it an incredible flavor and a delicious aniseed touch.
Depending on the region in Italy, you can find different types of sausage seasoned with red pepper flakes, basil, garlic, pepper or sugar. You can find salsiccia in Italian grocery stores.
List of ingredients
For this recipe, you need only a few simple ingredients.
- Pasta: For this recipe, you can choose any type of pasta: spaghetti, parpadelle, conchiglioni or simply penne pasta.
- Italian sausage: I use fresh Italian sausage with fennel seeds called salsiccia (more information above). If you cannot find Italian sausage, you can replace it with ground pork or ground beef.
- Red wine: I like to deglaze my sauce with red wine to give the tomato sauce a little more flavor. It’s best to choose a full-bodied, good quality red wine but not necessarily very expensive because that would be a bit of a shame!
- Tomatoes: I use good whole canned tomatoes like San Marzano or canned cherry tomatoes.
- Onion: I use red onions but you can also use yellow onions.
- Garlic: I use fresh garlic cloves, it is delicious with the tomato sauce.
- Herbs: I use sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme to season the sauce.
- Kale: I like to add a touch of greens to this recipe so I chose some fresh kale. This recipe also works well with frozen or fresh spinach.
You will find the exact quantities in the recipe card.
How to make this Italian Sausage Pasta ?
- PREPARE: Before using the Italian sausage for the pasta sauce, remove the skin. To do this, slit the sausage slightly lengthwise and remove the skin to loosen the meat. It doesn’t matter if it breaks, as you’ll break it into pieces later.
- SAUTÉ: First, sauté the kale for about 10 minutes with a drizzle of olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Then set the kale aside. In the same skillet, brown the Italian sausage meat for 2 minutes. Add the diced onions and garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes.
- DEGLAZE: Pour the red wine in the skillet to loosen all the sausage meat juices that have clung to the bottom of the skillet.
- SIMMER: Add tomatoes, herbs such as thyme and rosemary, salt and black pepper and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes to 1 hour.
- PASTA : Shortly before serving, bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook your pasta al dente as indicated in the package instructions. Reserve a cup of pasta water taken at the end of the cooking.
- SERVE: Add the cooked pasta and kale to the tomato sauce. Depending on how long you let the tomato sauce simmer, add one tablespoon up to one cup of pasta water to the sauce. Mix well. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
Variations of the Italian Sausage Pasta
- You can pimp up this easy Italian sausage pasta recipe by adding some red pepper flakes, sundried tomatoes or chopped black or green olives.
- You can replace the Italian sausage with fennel by a spicy Italian sausage also called Nduja.
- Instead of a tomato sauce, you can make a creamy Italian sausage pasta by replacing the red wine with white wine and the tomatoes by half of the quantities with heavy cream.
Frequently asked questions
How long will this Italian sausage pasta keep?
The pasta can be kept for 2 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The tomato and Italian sausage sauce will taste even better the next day !
If you know you’re going to have leftovers, I suggest you leave the kale and pasta out of the sauce. You can then add the kale and cook your pasta at the last minute, it will taste much better.
Can I freeze this Italian Sausage Pasta?
Yes, you can! You can freeze this pasta by placing it in an airtight container in the freezer.
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Italian Sausage Pasta (easy recipe)
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Equipment
Ingredients
- 400 g pasta
- 300 g Italian sausage with fennel seeds, salsiccia
- 200 g kale
- 175 ml red wine
- 800 g tomatoes whole, in can
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 red onions
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 4 sprigs thyme
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
- Parmesan
Instructions
PREPARE
- Before using the Italian sausage for the pasta sauce, remove the skin. To do this, slit the sausage slightly lengthwise and remove the skin to loosen the meat. It doesn’t matter if it breaks, as you’ll break it into pieces later.
- Wash the kale and cut it in small pieces. Chop the onions and cut the garlic cloves finely.
SAUTÉ
- First, sauté the kale for about 10 minutes with a drizzle of olive oil in a large skillet or dutch oven on medium-high heat. Then set the kale aside. In the same skillet, brown the Italian sausage meat for 2 minutes. Add the diced onions and garlic and sauté for another 2 minutes.
DEGLAZE
- Pour the red wine in the skillet to loosen all the sausage meat juices that have clung to the bottom of the skillet.
SIMMER
- Add tomatoes, herbs such as thyme and rosemary, salt and black pepper and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes to 1 hour.
PASTA
- Shortly before serving, bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook your pasta al dente as indicated in the package instructions. Reserve a cup of pasta water taken at the end of the cooking.
SERVE
- Add the cooked pasta and kale to the tomato sauce. Depending on how long you let the tomato sauce simmer, add one tablespoon up to one cup of pasta water to the sauce. Mix well. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
Nutrition
