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5.0 from 288 votes

Orecchiette Sausage Pasta in Creamy Tomato Sauce

Recipe video above. Orecchiette has one big thing going for it that other pastas do not: its cup shape makes it the perfect vehicle to hold special pasta sauces. The creamy tomato sausage pasta sauce featured in this recipe is orecchiette worthy. Decadent? Yes. Have salad tomorrow!

Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Servings: 5 - 5 people
Calories: 817 kcal
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American , Italian-American Fussion

Ingredients

  • 400g / 14oz orecchiette pasta (or other pasta)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves , minced
  • 500g / 1lb Italian pork sausages , meat squeezed out of their casings (see video, Note 1)
  • 1/4 cup white wine , anything not too sweet (sub water)
  • 1 cup tomato passata (called "tomato puree" in US, Note 2)
  • 3/4 cup cream , heavy/thickened
  • 3/4 cup milk (any fat %)
  • 1/3 cup parmesan , finely grated
  • 1 tsp Italian Herbs (Note 3)
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (chilli flakes)
  • 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
  • 3 cups (packed) kale leaves , torn into bite size pieces (or baby spinach, swiss chard, Tuscan kale etc)
  • parmesan , for serving

Instructions

    Cup of Yum
  1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook pasta according to packet directions MINUS 1 minute. Just before draining, scoop out 1 cup of pasta cooking water and set aside. (Note 4)
  2. Heat oil in a very large skillet over high heat. Add garlic and cook for 15 seconds.
  3. Add sausage meat and cook, breaking it up as you go, until there are some little golden bits - about 4 minutes.
  4. Add wine and cook, scraping the bottom of the skillet to remove the golden bits, and allow wine to evaporate - the winey smell will disappear.
  5. Add remaining ingredients except kale. Stir well, bring to simmer then turn stove down to low and simmer gently for 2 minutes to bring all the flavours together.
  6. Add pasta and kale. Toss well for 1 minute to coat pasta well with the sauce - it will thicken. If the sauce gets too thick, use the reserved pasta cooking water to loosen it up (Note 4).
  7. Serve immediately, garnished with freshly grated parmesan

Notes

  • Sausage - the better the sausage, the better the pasta! Avoid the very cheap sausages used for backyard BBQ's that are a uniform pink colour (pink = fillers = no good for cooking like this). Look for sausages where you can see chunks of meat and fat, like you see in the recipe video and photos.
  • If using link sausages (in Australia, we only get Italian sausage meat in sausage form), squeeze the meat from the casings (it's easy, demo in video).
  • Tomato passata -  pureed, strained pure tomatoes, sometimes labelled Tomato Puree in the US (here's a photo of Mutti Tomato Passata sold at Walmart). Readily available in Australian supermarkets nowadays, alongside pasta sauces. If you can't find it, use crushed canned tomatoes and simmer rapidly for 5 minutes to reduce it more. 
  • Italian Herbs - just use a store bought pre mix. Otherwise, make up your own with equal amounts of thyme, basil, oregano, parsley and a pinch of rosemary.
  • Pasta cooking water - the starch in the water thickens the sauce when tossed with pasta. So if the sauce needs thinning, best to use the pasta cooking water instead of just normal water. Great traditional Italian pasta cooking technique to use in every pasta recipe!
  • Nutrition per serving. Never said it was diet. I said it was DELICIOUS! Shave off 80 calories by using light cream or half and half instead of full fat cream (sauce will still be nice and thick from the tomato).

Nutrition Information

Calories 817cal (41%) Carbohydrates 71g (24%) Protein 32g (64%) Fat 44g (68%) Saturated Fat 18g (90%) Cholesterol 125mg (42%) Sodium 949mg (40%) Potassium 859mg (25%) Fiber 4g (16%) Sugar 6g (12%) Vitamin A 4864IU (97%) Vitamin C 54mg (60%) Calcium 238mg (24%) Iron 4mg (22%)

Nutrition Facts

Serving: 5- 5 people

Amount Per Serving

Calories 817

% Daily Value*

Calories 817cal 41%
Carbohydrates 71g 24%
Protein 32g 64%
Fat 44g 68%
Saturated Fat 18g 90%
Cholesterol 125mg 42%
Sodium 949mg 40%
Potassium 859mg 18%
Fiber 4g 16%
Sugar 6g 12%
Vitamin A 4864IU 97%
Vitamin C 54mg 60%
Calcium 238mg 24%
Iron 4mg 22%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.