Creamy Sausage Pasta

5 from 7 votes

This creamy sausage pasta makes Italian (fennel) sausage the star of the show, so use the best sausages you can find with a high pork content.

Prep Time5

Cook Time20

Total Time25

Course: Pasta

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: servings

Author: Margie Nomura

Ingredients

3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves chopped
14 oz sweet Italian sausage (fennel pork sausage) about 4 US links (about 6 UK sausages), casings removed
5 fl oz white wine about scant 2/3 cup
5 fl oz light cream (single cream) about scant 2/3 cup
7 oz rigatoni about 2 1/2 cups dry
4.25 oz pecorino Romano about 1 1/4 cups finely grated
Salt and black pepper to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a large pan over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and then crumble the sausage meat into the pan. Break it up as you brown. Don’t worry if it catches the bottom of the pan – those gnarly caramelized bits add flavor. This should take around 10 minutes.
Add the chopped garlic and an extra splash of olive oil. Fry for a minute longer. The sausages should be golden brown.
Deglaze the pan by adding the white wine and mixing it together. Use a wooden spoon to get all the bits off the bottom of the pan, as that is all great flavor.
Meanwhile, cook your pasta in salted water until al dente.
Once the pasta is nearly done, add about 1 cup (240 ml) of pasta water to the sausage sauce and half of the cheese. Then stir in the cream. It might seem a little loose, but the starchy pasta will absorb it all.
Add the cooked pasta to the sausage sauce and toss really well to coat all the pieces. Add more pecorino and toss again. Taste and season.
Serve with more pecorino and lots of black pepper.

Notes

Make-ahead and storage

To store: Leftovers can be transferred to an airtight container and placed in the fridge for up to 3 days.

To reheat: The best way to reheat is in a saucepan over medium heat with an added knob of butter. Stir well and heat gently until it's saucy and melted again. Or the microwave works well too. Microwave on high for 1-2 minutes until piping hot.

To freeze: I don't love freezing creamy pastas like this, as I find it turns grainy once defrosted.

Make ahead: This is a pasta dish that is best made fresh as the pasta water is a key part of the sauce. If you want to get ahead, you could fry the sausages a few hours ahead and then cover and set aside. When ready to cook, bring back to temperature, fry the garlic, and continue as normal.

More quick tips

Wine hack: I would really recommend the wine. It cooks out so it doesn’t have a strong alcohol taste, and it really rounds out the dish. If you use 5 fl oz (150 ml) in the recipe, you’ll have a few glasses left in the bottle to have with dinner. If you can’t get through a full bottle of wine, I pour anything left over into an ice cube tray or a zip-top bag and freeze it. I then throw it into the pan when I next need wine to cook with. If you cannot use wine, switch to chicken stock and a good tablespoon of lemon juice or white wine vinegar.
Fennel sausages: If you can't find fennel sausages, add a teaspoon of crushed fennel seeds when adding the garlic.
Browning sausages: To get the best golden color when frying the sausages, you need to make sure they remain in contact with the base of the pan for this to build up. This means you shouldn’t move them around too much when they’re in the pan. Contact = color.
Pasta water: Reserve a mug of pasta water at the end. This is key for a creamy and rich sauce as the starch in the pasta water binds it all together.
Removing the casing from sausages: This can seem a bit of a fuss but gets easier once you have the hang of it. Ensure your sausages are fridge cold (trust me, it makes it much easier). Then all you have to do is score the skin down the length with a sharp knife and pull away the sides.

Nutrition