Creamy Sausage Pasta

Creamy Sausage Pasta is the perfect dinner dish to whip up when you're running low on time and ingredients. It's ready in just 15-20 minutes, and PACKED with flavour. The whole family will love this incredible Italian sausage and cheese loaded pasta!

Course Dinner

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Total Time 20

Servings people

Calories 856kcal

Author Wandercooks

Cost $15

Equipment

Ingredients

500 g Italian sausages skins removed (or regular sausages with a 1/2 tsp fennel seeds or Italian herbs)
300 g penne pasta
6 mushrooms sliced
2 cups baby spinach fresh
2 cups thickened cream / heavy cream or bechamel/white sauce
1 cup pecorino romano cheese or parmesan
1 onion chopped
2 garlic minced
1 tbsp olive oil

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Cook pasta for a couple of minutes less than the recommended packet directions, to keep pasta al dente. Drain.
300 g penne pasta
Place a large cast iron pan over medium heat and add olive oil. Once heated, add chopped onion, garlic and mushroom and cook for a minute or two. Stir continuously to avoid sticking.
1 onion, 2 garlic, 1 tbsp olive oil, 6 mushrooms
Add Italian sausages (don't forget to remove the skins!) into the pan and chop up with your spatula as you mix around the pan. Cook until browned.
500 g Italian sausages
Set heat to low and pour in the cream. Mix around the pan, then add in the baby spinach and pecorino romano or parmesan, stirring both into the mixture.
2 cups baby spinach, 2 cups thickened cream / heavy cream, 1 cup pecorino romano cheese
Add the cooked pasta, mixing everything together. Remove from the heat and serve immediately.
Note: If the sauce still doesn't thicken after stirring through the pasta, add a slurry of 1 tbsp cold water and 1 tbsp cornstarch.

Video

Notes

Tips to get this recipe just right:

Italian Sausages - Italian sausages go insanely well in both white and red sauces as they feature a flavour combo of pork and fennel. Of course you can also use regular sausages, but I'd recommend popping in some fennel seeds or Italian herbs to up the flavour-ante. You could also try using chicken sausages, spinach and pine nut sausages, lamb and rosemary sausages etc. Any type of sausage with added herbs or spices will create a super tasty sauce when paired with the cream. Using the sausage meat with skins removed makes them easier to cook and really helps infuse their flavours through the dish.
Pecorino Romano Cheese - We love this style of cheese, which is like a more intense version of parmesan. You can use parmesan if you prefer, just note that you may need to use more of it to reach the same level of flavour intensity.
Cream - Replace with homemade bechamel white sauce for a 'just-as-creamy' no-cream version. Check out our recipe for Greek Moussaka where we shared Sarah's easy-mode no-fail bechamel sauce! Make sure to add your cream on low heat to avoid boiling and possibly causing the cream to separate.
Double the Recipe - Cook a batch on a weekend, and have the meals ready to go during the week.
Get Creative with Veggies - If you don't like mushrooms or baby spinach, try cooking with broccolini, asparagus or cauliflower.

Adapted from The Salty Marshmallow

Nutrition