Tuscan Sausage Pasta
This Tuscan Sausage Pasta recipe comes together with Italian sausage, a lightened-up cream sauce, spinach, and tomatoes.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4-6 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian American
Ingredients
- 1 lb pasta (we like rigatoni, gluten-free works)
- 1 Tbsp. olive oil
- 1 lb. Italian sausage (we use pork or venison Italian sausage – recipe in my cookbook)
- 5-7 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 (14oz) can diced tomatoes (or 2 cups fresh, or 1 can drained sundried)
- about 3-4 cups spinach & arugula blend (or chard or kale)
- 1 cup pasta water
- 1-2 Tbsp. dry white wine
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 3/4 cup grated parmesan (or more if you please)
Instructions
- Start by bringing a pot of water to boil and cook the pasta to just under al dente following package suggestions. Before draining the pasta reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.
- While the pasta is cooking in a separate pan or after the pasta is cooked in the same pot, brown the Italian sausage in olive oil.
- When this meat is browned, add the garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes. Then, add the spinach & arugula and allow it to wild a bit before adding the tomatoes.
- Add the meat and veggie mixture to the pasta and then stir in the pasta water, heavy cream, and cheese. Stir to combine and let this simmer over low heat for a minute to help the sauce thicken and absorb.
- Serve!
Notes
- To make this gluten-free: you can use gluten-free pasta! I’ve tested this with a brown rice and quinoa blend and it’s fantastic. However, the leftovers never hold up as well for me.
- To make this dairy-free: you can use full-fat coconut milk in lieu of heavy cream. However, parmesan is not an ingredient I have subbed. My recommendation would be to use a blend of your favorite non-dairy cheese and a tablespoon of nutritional yeast.
- Italian sausage: we use homemade venison sausage from my cookbook quite a bit. We also love making our own more traditional pork Italian sausage when we get ground pork or grind our own pork from our local farm. But, a pack of sweet or spicy Italian sausage from the store is just fine.
- Wine: If you don’t want to use wine, just use 1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar or lemon juice!
- Leafy greens: use what you have on hand, especially if you grow greens in your garden! A spinach and arugula blend is my favorite.
- Tomatoes: you can use a can of diced tomatoes, about 2 cups of fresh cherry/grape tomatoes, OR a jar of sundried. This is entirely based on preference and what you have on hand!
Find it online: https://www.missallieskitchen.com/tuscan-sausage-pasta/
