Italian sausage pasta is a wonderfully tasty pasta dish. Easy to make and finished in less than 30 minutes. It makes a great weeknight dinner, with lots of flavor provided by the Italian sausages.
Italian Sausage Pasta
Italian sausage pasta is ideal for a weeknight dinner, being both quick and easy to make. Bite sized pieces of crumbled Italian sausages coated in a tomato based sauce also containing garlic and onion. The sauce is made without using any cream.
Italian sausages contain lots of flavor, they are normally pork and usually have some herbs in them. You can substitute the Italian sausages for any sausage of your choice to mix up the flavors and to suit your preference.
I recommend using the best quality Italian sausages within your budget. The sausages are where the majority of the flavor will come from, so the better the quality of sausages, the better the recipe will taste.
Pasta Type To Use
Any type of pasta will work. I normally prefer pasta that isn’t a type of spaghetti such as spirals, bow ties or shells. I used penne when I cooked this. Types of spaghetti, such as angel hair, will also work. Using spaghetti along with the pieces of crumbled Italian sausage will make the recipe similar to spaghetti and meatballs (small sausage meatballs).
Cooking Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce
Depending on what type of pasta you use, and how fast it cooks, will determine if you want to start cooking the pasta at the beginning of cooking the sauce or part way through cooking the sauce. Pasta is best fresh so ideally the pasta will finish cooking at around the same time the sauce finishes.
To cook the Italian sausage sauce, start by heating some olive oil in a large skillet, on medium-high heat, and crumble in the Italian sausages. To crumble the sausages you need to get the meat out of the sausage casing. You can do this by either pushing the meat out the end of the casing, or you can run a knife along the sausage lengthwise and squeeze/scoop the meat out.
Cook the crumbled sausage in the skillet until browned all over. Take the sausage out and set aside for later. Heat up the rest of the oil in the skillet, on medium heat. Add in the diced onion and cook until translucent and then add in the minced garlic. Cook the garlic for a few minutes, being careful not to burn it. Add in the canned tomatoes, salt, pepper and Italian herbs. Mix together and bring the sauce to a simmer before reducing the heat to medium-low.
Let the sauce simmer for about 10 minutes, until most of the liquid is gone. At this point add the sausage back in and cook for a few minutes to coat the sausage and heat it up. Combine with the cooked pasta, either in the skillet if it is large enough or in a large bowl. Mix it all together until the pasta is evenly coated by the sauce.
What To Serve With Italian Sausage Pasta
Italian sausage pasta is great on its own as a main meal. Top the pasta with cracked black pepper and/or grated cheese, if desired.
The pasta also goes great when served with sides. For example garlic bread, which I reckon goes with pretty much everything. Crispy pieces of garlic bread do provide a nice added texture to the pasta the pieces of sausage in it. Another great side would be a salad, this would add some nice freshness to the meal, or some tasty roasted broccoli.
Diet Substitutions and Variations
Substituting the Italian sausages for a meat-free type of sausage will make this recipe vegetarian and vegan friendly. The recipe is soy-free and dairy-free as it is. Use egg-free pasta to make the recipe egg-free (this will be most store bought dry pasta) and use gluten-free pasta to make the recipe gluten-free.
You can combine the sauce with a variety of different vegetables, if desired. Examples of vegetables that would work well are: spinach, mushrooms, peas and beans. It is easiest to cook most of these vegetables separately (or at the beginning and put them aside for later) and then add them in towards the end of cooking the sauce. If you plan to add in spinach I would mix it in when returning the crumbled sausage back into the sauce.
Storage
Cooked pasta with the sauce can last up to 4 days in the fridge, if stored properly in an air tight container.
The sauce can be made ahead of time and frozen. To do this just follow the recipe as normal and exclude all the steps involving pasta. The frozen sauce should last in the freezer for up to 6 months.
For more great pasta recipes have a look at:
Italian Suasage Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 lb / 500 g pasta
Italian Sausage Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb / 500 g pork Italian sausages or sausage of choice
- 1 medium onion finely diced
- 2 – 3 cloves garlic minced
- 28 oz / 800 g canned diced tomatoes
- 1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to instructions.
- Meanwhile heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil oil in a large skillet or saucepan on medium-high heat.
- Crumble sausages (Note 1) into skillet and cook for 3-5 minutes, until browned on all sides. Take the sausage out of the skillet and set aside for later.
- Clean skillet if necessary and heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat.
- Add in the diced onion to the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes, until translucent, then add in the minced garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes, being careful not to burn garlic.
- Stir in the diced tomatoes, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Bring to a simmer and then turn down the heat to medium-low. Simmer for 8-10 minutes until most of the liquid from the tomatoes is gone.
- Mix the crumbled sausage back into the sauce. Cook for another 2-3 minutes to heat the sausages back up, then turn off the heat
- If the skillet or saucepan is large enough add the cooked pasta to it, otherwise combine sauce and pasta together in a large bowl. Mix the sauce and pasta together, until the pasta is well coated in the sauce.
Notes
- To crumble the sausages you need to get the meat out of the sausage casing. You can do this by either pushing the meat out the end of the casing, or you can run a knife along the sausage lengthwise and squeeze/scoop the meat out.
