Sausage, Tomato and Mascarpone Pasta
A delicious creamy pasta made with pork sausages, aromatic herbs, and a rich tomato and mascarpone sauce, that is both comforting and indulgent which is sure to become a family favourite.
Ingredients
Main Ingredients
Method
Remove the sausage meat from their casings and set aside.
Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the fennel seeds for 1 minute until fragrant, then add the onion and sautee over a medium-low heat for around 6-8 minutes until softened.
Add the sausage meat and garlic to the pan and break the meat into small chunks with a wooden spoon, cook for around 8-10 minutes until nicely browned.
Add the thyme and oragano and fry for 30 seconds then stir in the tomato puree and cook for a further 1 minute. Add the red wine and cook for 3-4 minutes until reduced.
Pour in the chopped tomatoes and 250ml (1 cup) of water, season with a little salt and pepper then cook for 15-20 minutes uncovered until thickened.
Meanwhile, bring a pan of well salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to packet instructions.
When the pasta ready, stir the mascarpone into the sauce allowing it to melt and become beautifully creamy, then tear in a few basil leaves. Taste and adjust the seasoning if required.
Add the pasta to the sauce and mix everything together allowing the sauce to coat the pasta, serve with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, freshly cracked black pepper and top with a few extra basil leaves.
About Sausage, Tomato and Mascarpone Pasta
It's the day before my big grocery delivery and I'm pretty much out of most of my common go to ingredients, so I check in my fridge and see some mascarpone that has been pushed to the back and start thinking about what I can do with it. I always have pasta, so I know I'm going to make some kind of pasta dish, and I have sausages in my freezer, but not Italian style so I decided to come up with a sausage pasta dish with mascarpone and add in some of the flavours of Italian (or Sicilian) sausage. I'm really pleased with how it came out and this pasta is definitely going to become a firm favourite of mine in the future!
Creating a Sicilian Sausage Inspired Sauce
The key ingredient in Sicilian sausage is fennel seeds, so that was my starting point for this dish, I also knew I had fresh thyme and oregano growing in my garden (my oregano was actually a bit woody; I used dried in the end), so thought I'd get some use out of those, and I had a fresh basil plant on my kitchen window sill - those were going to be my aromatics!
Breaking the meat out of the sausage casings allowed me to use the meat for a ragu rather than chopping up chunks of sausage, so I landed on a tomato based ragu with fennel and herbs, I could then stir in the beautifully creamy mascarpone at the end to make a really indulgent sauce.
Choosing the Right Pasta Shape
I went with fettuccine - a long, flat ribbon pasta sturdy enough to hold onto ragu sauces. It’s not always the easiest to find, but plenty of other pasta shapes work just as well with meat sauces.
Ribbon Pasta Shapes
Flat, wide ribbon shapes are very good at holding onto ragu sauces like, I prefer pasta made with bronze dies when using wide ribbon shapes as the bronze dies create a rougher surface which holds the sauce better than the smooth slick surface created when using teflon dies.
- Tagliatelle - Tagliatelle is not quite as wide as fettuccine, and a little thinner and is a great alternative to fettuccine.
- Pappardelle - This is a very wide pasta shape and literally means "to gobble" and would also be a great choice for sausage ragu or any other meat sauce.
Tubular Pasta Shapes
Tubular pasta shapes are also a great choice for the sausage and mascarpone sauce as the sauce coats the outside of the pasta and the pieces of sausage meat gets trapped inside. For this type of sauce you want to go for sturdy tube pasta shapes.
- Rigatoni - Rigatoni is a large, flat-ended tubular pasta shape with ridges down the edges. The ridges will help hold the mascarpone sauce, and the large opening will ensure that you pick up a good amount of sausage meat making for a luxurious mouthful of pasta.
- Penne - Probably one of the most popular and versatile pasta shapes, it is ridged like rigatoni, but thinner and shorter and it's ends are cut at diagonals and is great for holding both meat sauces like this sausage and mascarpone sauce.
- Ziti - This pasta shape is like large macaroni and similar to rigatoni but slightly smaller with a smooth surface so it won't hold the sauce as well as rigatoni will, but it sturdy enough to hold up well with a meat sauce.
Other Pasta Shapes
The main criteria for choosing pasta shapes for meat sauces is that the pasta is sturdy enough to pick up both the sauce and the meat. Here a couple of other good choices:
- Conchiglie (shells) - You'll get a good mouthful of the chunky meat sauce inside the shell and the back of the ridged shell helps the creamy sauce stick.
- Fusilli (spirals) - The corkscrew shape traps sausage and sauce in its grooves, making it another solid choice.
What about Spaghetti?
Although spaghetti Bolognese is popular outside of Italy, spaghetti isn’t the best choice for meat sauces. Its thin, rounded surface picks up sauce well but struggles to hold the meat, often leaving it pooled at the bottom of the bowl. Of course, you can use it if you like, but it’s not the most compatible match for rich, chunky ragus.
How to Make Sausage, Tomato and Mascarpone Pasta (Visual Guide)
Remove the casing from each sausage by slicing lengthways down the center, then peeling the casing off. Discard the casing and place the meat in a mixing bowl.
Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the fennel seeds for about 1 minute until fragrant.
Sautée the onion and garlic for around 6-8 minutes until softened.
Add the sausage meat to the pan and break it up with the back of a wooden spoon, keep stirring and breaking the sausage meat up until you have small (ground meat sized) pieces and cook until nicely browned.
Once the meat is nicely browned, add the thyme and oregano to the pan and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
Add the tomato puree and mix until combined with the onion mixture, cook for a further minute.
Pour in the red wine and cook for a further 3-4 minutes until reduced.
Pour in the chopped tomatoes, season with a little salt and pepper and give everything a good stir.
Pour in 250ml (1 cup) of water to loosen the sauce a little and cook uncovered over a medium-low heat for about 15-20 minutes until thickened, if your sauce gets a little too thick add in a little more water.
While your sauce is cooking bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook your pasta according to packet instructions.
Over a low heat, stir in the mascarpone until smooth, the break in a small handful of basil leaves.
Finally, add your cooked pasta to the sauce and mix everything together, making sure you coat the pasta entirely in the sauce. Serve with grated parmesan cheese and freshly cracked black pepper sprinkled over the top, and a few extra basil leaves for garnish if you wish.
Questions and Substitutions
Can I use white wine instead of red wine?
Yes, the acidity of the white wine is great for cutting through the richness of the creamy mascarpone. I only had red wine at the time, which will make a richer sauce with more depth of flavour, but had I also had white wine I might have opted for that instead. Just remember white wine makes the sauce a little lighter, red wine makes the sauce a little richer and both work really well.
One important note, if your tomatoes are a little acidic I probably would avoid white wine, and opt for red, or leave the wine out. You might also want to add a little sugar (1/2-1 tsp) if acidity is a problem.
What can I use instead of mascarpone?
You can use any other cream cheese instead of mascarpone. Mascarpone is sweeter and more velvety than standard cream cheese, has a higher fat content and is slightly less acidic, but standard cream cheese will still work perfectly well here.
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