Spicy Italian Sausage Pasta

Great for busy weeknights, or any night you're craving pasta, this Spicy Italian Sausage Pasta is fast, creamy and satisfying! With a rich tomato-based cream sauce and plenty of crumbled spicy Italian sausage, this easy pasta recipe is a great pasta dish you can make in about 20 minutes!

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Fast and Easy Spicy Italian Sausage Pasta

The perfect weeknight dinner with simple ingredients and incredible flavor, this Spicy Sausage Pasta delivers on both simplicity and tastiness. Whip up the creamy, spicy sausage tomato sauce while your pasta cooks, and in about 20 minutes, you've got a bowl of flavorful and filling pasta!

This creamy Italian sausage pasta is clutch for a busy weeknight, and is also pantry friendly and wallet friendly, with minimal ingredients! It's easily one of my favorite weeknight dinners, and a great dish the whole family will love!

This is also one of my favorite pasta dishes to serve to guests and lovers of spicy food and spicy sauce! One of the best 30-minute weeknight meals! 

What goes into the Spicy Sausage Pasta?

To make this easy pasta dish (perfect for busy weeknights), you will need:

• A half a pound of rigatoni pasta, or your favorite pasta shape. This pasta will work with any of your favorite pastas, but I love how to sauce sticks to the rigatoni pasta. For best texture, use a short, shaped pasta rather than a spaghetti or angel hair.
• Butter and olive oil, for sautéing, flavor, and browning. The milk solids in the butter help to get the sausage nice and well browned, too!
• Spicy or Hot Fresh Italian sausage, casings removed. This would be about 3 links. You can also use ground, uncased spicy Italian sausage. I personally prefer the flavor profile of a spicy Italian style sausage (like Premio Brand) for this recipe, as it lends a great, bold flavor to the pasta. You can also use mild or sweet Italian sausage if you prefer things less hot, and you'll still get that great flavor that comes with a really well made Italian sausage. See the Substitutions and Additions section below for more ideas!
• 5 cloves garlic, sliced or minced. If slicing, make sure they are very thin so they blend well into the sauce. You can also use a garlic press for a finer texture. The more you cut or press the garlic, the stronger it's flavor will be.
• Tomato paste. This adds a rich boost of tomato flavor to this quick and easy pasta.
• Dried basil and crushed red pepper flakes, for some classic Italian flavor, and a touch of heat.
• Dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc. Stay away from anything overly sweet. If you like, you could also sub in a dry red wine or chicken broth.
• Heavy cream. This is key for the creamy sauce, and blends perfectly with the sausage, tomato, and aromatics.
• Canned fire roasted diced tomatoes. I love the fire roasted variety of diced tomatoes for this recipe, since they add a nice smoky depth to the overall dish.
• Grated parmesan cheese for nutty flavor. You'll add this right at the end. A little extra sprinkled on top before serving is also delicious!

Making the pasta

This spicy sausage pasta recipe comes together very easily any night of the week. You'll cook the pasta while the sauce cooks, then combine everything at the end.

First up, you'll cook your pasta to al dente in a large pot of water, and keep a bit of the water when it's done cooking. The pasta water will help your sauce thicken.

Making the sauce

While pasta cooks in a large pot, make the sauce. Start by cooking the sausage over medium heat in a large skillet, breaking it up as you go. Once the sausage is cooked, add the tomato paste, dried basil and crushed red pepper flakes. Cook the sausage mixture, stirring occasionally for a couple of minutes. Deglaze the pan with wine, cooking until a majority of the wine is evaporated.

Lastly, add the diced tomatoes, and cream. Once the sauce simmers a bit and thickens, stir in the cooked pasta and reserved water, and parmesan cheese. Stir it up, cook a few minutes more until it's thick and glossy. See recipe card for full recipe. 

What kind of pasta is best for the recipe?

I prefer rigatoni for this recipe, but you can use any shape pasta you like! Some other great options are:

• Gemelli
• Penne pasta
• Farfalle
• Ziti
• Cavatappi
• Shells

Tools for making a great pasta

A deep saute pan. This makes making the sauce and saucing the pasta a breeze because of the wide and deep surface area.

A good wooden spoon, for breaking up the sausage/stirring the sauce. I love wide flat spoon, so I can "cut" the sausage up easily with it, without worrying about damaging the pan.

A large saucepan, for boiling your pasta. Only needs to be big enough for ½ lb of pasta.

A sharp knife or garlic press, for prepping the fresh garlic.

Substitutions and Additions

This Spicy Sausage Pasta is easily adaptable to what you have on hand. Here are a few swaps and additions for working with what you have in your fridge and pantry to make this easy weeknight meal.

• Try another pasta shape, rather than rigatoni. Basically and short/stout pasta will work!
• Don't have fire roasted diced tomatoes? Regular will work, too! You could also use fresh roasted tomatoes in place of canned tomatoes. You'll need about 1 ½ cups.
• Have fresh basil you want to use up? Try that in place of the dried basil. Just add it closer to the end of the cooking time.
• Want things a bit less spicy? Try sweet Italian sausage or mild Italian sausage instead of the hot and spicy Italian sausage, or omit the crushed red pepper flakes.
• Not into using wine, or don't have any on hand? Swap it for chicken stock!
• If you like your pasta EXTRA spicy, you can add in more red pepper flakes!
• Add sautéed bell pepper, or roasted red peppers. 
• Add some fresh spinach at the very end for some extra nutrients!
• Try ground pork instead of the pork sausage. Just be sure to add some red pepper flakes and crushed fennel seeds for extra heat and sausage-like flavor. You could also use Italian style chicken sausage or turkey sausage. 

Leftovers

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. When reheating, you can add a splash of milk or water to loosen everything up, if desired. 

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Serving Suggestions

This Spicy Sausage Rigatoni tastes great topped with a generous portion of fresh grated parmesan cheese, and some fresh torn basil. I like to serve it to guests with a nice green salad, and some crusty garlic bread.

Hungry for more pasta recipes?

Spicy Vodka Pasta

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce

One Pot Spinach Artichoke Pasta Bake

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto

Easy Cashew Basil Pesto

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