Pasta with Sausage Ragù
By Lee Jackson ↣ Published on: June 11, 2021
For a ready-made burst of Italian flavour, harness all the wonder of Italian Sausages in my simple and super-tasty Sausage Ragù. Tangy tomatoes meet, sweet fragrant sausage for a wonderful combination of colour, fragrance and flavour.
One of my regular go-to Italian dishes is this wonderful sausage ragù. Using all the pre-flavoured magic of good-quality Italian sausage. Italian sausage recipes generally feature pork and lots of tasty fennel - Italy on a plate! This is a great way to inject the flavour into your tangy tomato sauce and much less hassle than slaving over a traditional Italian meat sauce. Harness all the pre-made deliciousness of Italian sausage with this super tasty ragù sauce.
What is Sausage Ragù?
Ragù in Italy means 'sauce'. Sausage ragù is a common sauce throughout Italy, using fresh sausage as the main ingredient together with tomato typically. Sausage types vary between regions but many feature pork and fennel which is generally what we outside if the country refer to as 'Italian Sausage'.
This style of sausage is mostly pork, with a liberal helping of fennel seeds or ground fennel with salt & pepper. The sausage are usually removed from their casings and broken up into the gravy to create a quick and easy pasta sauce.
Why it works
It's quick and easy - this recipe is on constant rotation in my household. It's ready in no time and really easy to prepare. All the flavour comes from the sausage, so as long as you find a good quality one, most of the work is done for you.
Any Pasta will do - Any pasta shape is fine for sausage ragù, I make it with whatever I have at hand.
Pork and fennel! - These two are just meant for each other. Meaty, juicy pork takes on a whole new personality when paired with the mild anise flavours of fennel.
Stuff you'll need
Making this simple ragù at home isn't taxing in the slightest. Here are some of the key ingredients you'll need - there's a full recipe below.
- Italian Sausage - this is one of those times when I say, buy the best quality you can. They'll be the main flavouring, so you'll notice the difference. When you're out shopping for sausage, you might see sweet or spicy varieties. Either is fine, spicy Italian sausage doesn't tend to be thatspicy (Even though Italians will warn you before eating!).
- Canned Tomato - again, try and buy the best quality you can San Marzano tomatoes are excellent or my favourite tomato brand Mutti (not an ad!) - I use the polpa (pulp) style, but you can use chopped or whole and mash or blend them up.
- Onion, celery & garlic - what's a tomato sauce without these?!
- Fresh herbs - I mostly use fresh oregano, but also on occasion, basil, marjoram or sage. You can substitute with around 1-2 tsp of dried if you like.
- Dry White Wine - I'll also drizzle in a little for flavour, but it's not essential.
A step by step guide
Here's how easy putting together this ragù together is...
- Remove the sausage skins
- Fry the onion, celery and garlic until soft then add the sausage and break up into small pieces.
- Add the canned tomato and a little water
- Simmer for 30 mins and you're good to go.
Pro Tips to make your life easier
Any pasta works with this dish, which is why it's one of my favourites. I learned that living in Italy, Italians can be very specific about which pasta is eaten with which sauce, but also these 'rules' are somewhat relaxed too. I ate sausage ragù with all types of pasta.
I like to pair my sausage ragù with many varieties of pasta:
Dried Pasta
Fresh pasta (learn how to make fresh pasta)
Serving, storing and suggestions
- Serving - take a few spoonfuls and toss with cooked pasta along with a little pasta cooking water to loosen the sauce. Add a little grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese too.
- Alternative uses - This sauce makes a great sauce for lasagne too. Add spoonfuls between pasta sheets with some ricotta or béchamel sauce. You can also use it as an al forno sauce, just mix with 80% cooked pasta and add to an oven proof dish. Top with mozzarella and bake until bubbling and browned.
- Fridge - ragù sauce can be refrigerated for up to a week.
- Freezer - Freeze the sauce in portions in airtight containers and reheat in the microwave. Alternatively, defrost and reheat in a pan, ready to mix through pasta.
Ready to get cooking?
This sausage ragù is the perfect mid week dinner or lunch, it's quick, easy, filling and tasty. A no-fuss dish that you can have in a bowl in no time at all.
There's good reason it's one of my most cooked pasta sauces and I'm sure you'll agree once you've made it at home yourself.
Any Questions? (FAQ)
Have a question about sausage ragù? Let me know in the comments.
Ragù means 'sauce', so a ragù can feature many meats like pork, beef, duck, game or poultry. It can also feature simply vegetables like tomato or mushrooms.
Ragù derives from the French word for stew 'Ragout'.
As a sauce for pasta, a sauce for lasagne or al forno (oven baked) pasta. Also, as a secondi (main) course - the large pieces of meat cooked in the sauce are eaten for secondi while the sauce is used for the pasta course.
More delicious Italian recipes
If you like this recipe for pasta with sausage ragù, you'll love some of my other Italian recipes.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ cup onion (diced)
- 1 stalk celery (diced)
- 3 garlic cloves (chopped)
- 2 lb Italian sausage (sweet or spicy)
- 2 tbsp oregano (fresh) or 1 tsp dried
- 1 glass white wine (dry)
- 2 cans tomato polpa (14 oz/400g cans)
- salt & pepper
- pasta (I used rigatoni)
- Parmigiano Reggiano (finely grated)
Instructions
- Using a sharp knife, make a slit down the length of each sausage and peel off the sausage skins and discard. Set aside.
- Over a medium heat, heat the oil in a large pan until just hot.Add the onion and celery and fry for 4-5 minutes until soft.Add the garlic and fry for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the sausage meat and oregano and break up the meat with a wooden spoon. Let this fry for 3-4 minutes to brown all over. Break up any larger chunks of sausage with the spoon.
- Pour in the white wine and let it sizzle for 1-2 minutes before adding the tomato. Stir in about 1/2 can of water and let it come to a simmer.
- Reduce the heat to low and put on a lid - simmer the sauce gently for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and reduce for 5 minutes.
- Season with salt & pepper (be careful not to over salt as the sausages could already be salted)
Making the pasta
- Cook your chosen pasta to the pack instructions in salted water. Reserve a couple of cups of the cooking liquid then drain.
- Spoon around 2-3 large spoonfuls of sauce per person into the pasta and about 1/2 cup - 1 cup of the pasta water. Stir well.
- Serve from the pan or in separate bowls with plentiful grated fresh parmigiana Reggiano (parmesan)
Notes
- I use whatever pasta I have at home so feel free to choose whichever. Some of my favourites include: Penne, Rigatoni, Rotini/Fussili (spirals), Cavatelli, Linguini, Spaghetti.
- I'll also use fresh pasta too like Garganelli, Cavatelli, Pappardelle, Fettuccini, Mallorreddus and even gnocchi.
- Serving - take a few spoonfuls and toss with cooked pasta along with a little pasta cooking water to loosen the sauce. Add a little grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese too.
- Alternative uses - This sauce makes a great sauce for lasagne too. Add spoonfuls between pasta sheets with some ricotta or béchamel sauce. You can also use it as an al forno sauce, just mix with 80% cooked pasta and add to an oven proof dish. Top with mozzarella and bake until bubbling and browned.
- Fridge - ragù sauce can be refrigerated for up to a week.
- Freezer - Freeze the sauce in portions in airtight containers and reheat in the microwave. Alternatively, defrost and reheat in a pan, ready to mix through pasta.
Nutrition
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