Pasta Rosa with Sausage

Why This is the Best Recipe

I cook a lot of pasta dishes for my family but I think this is the best pasta rosa recipe because:

1. Quick and Easy: It is so simple, my kids have cooked it all by themselves before.
2. Jarred Sauce Upgrade: You start with your favorite jar of spaghetti sauce and add sooooo much flavor with very simple ingredient upgrades.
3. Elegant for Company: My kids actually made this for an at-home date night for our anniversary one year. I wouldn't hesitate to serve it as part of a Christmas dinner or special event.

Ingredients

The ingredients for this pasta rosa with sausage couldn't be easier:

• Your Favorite Pasta Shape: Use a short noodle for this. Penne, farfalle/bowties, or our favorite corkscrews are all excellent choices.
• Your Favorite Tomato Sauce: I've used plain canned tomato sauce and I've tried seasoned prepared sauce. Both work equally well in a pinch. If you use the canned variety, be sure to add 1 - 2 tsp of Italian seasoning. This isn't necessary if you select a prepared jar.
• 1 Pound Bulk Sausage: Hot or Mild, it's up to you. We prefer it spicy.
• 1 Cup Heavy Cream: This is the signature ingredient and essential to the dish. If you don't want to use cream or you don't have any on hand, you could substitute milk and add 2 - 3 tbsp of butter.
• White Wine: You only need 1/3 cup. If you don't usually drink white wine, you could buy a package of mini bottles and just use one at a time. Keep the rest in your pantry for future recipe use.
• An Onion & Garlic: You probably have both in your fridge right now. I always keep the jarred minced garlic ready to go.

Make The Pasta Sauce

First, you need to decide whether you are making a One Pot Meal or want a faster 20-minute meal.

One Pot Instructions: You will have to cook the pasta in a large pot and then drain it before you can begin the sauce. You can cook the sauce in the pasta pot and then toss the cooked pasta back in to heat through but this will add an additional 20 minutes to your dinner.

Short-Cut 20-Minute Dinner Instructions:

First, you'll need to brown the sausage in a large skillet over medium-high heat at the same time as your pasta is cooking in a separate pot.

Bulk sausage is not like ground beef. You're not simply cooking it till it is no longer pink, you're going to saute it until the meat has a toasted brown appearance.

If you don't cook the sausage long enough, it will be rubbery and chewy in your final dish.

Once the sausage is properly toasted brown, add the chopped onion to the skillet.

Cook the onion with the sausage until it is softened and translucent or you'll have crunchy onions in the sauce.

Add the garlic to the mixture and stir for 30 seconds or until fragrant.

At this point, my pasta was finished cooking and I realized I wanted to finish my sauce in the now empty, larger pasta pot so that it was easier to toss together with the noodles at the end.

You can either:

A) Continue to cook your sauce in the original skillet and then pour it over the pasta in the pasta pot.

OR

B) Transfer the sausage and onions to the pasta pot now and finish the entire dish in the bigger pot.

Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the jar of tomato sauce to the sausage and stir.

If you are using plain, canned tomato sauce, now is the time to add 1 - 2 tsp of Italian herb seasoning.

Let the tomato sauce simmer for a few minutes and then 2 minutes before you want to serve, add the heavy cream and stir it in.

Let the sauce cook for 2 minutes and then add the cooked pasta.

Toss gently together and serve.

Serving Suggestions

Creamy pasta rosa is such a delicious dinner, you could serve it with garlic bread or easy homemade focaccia for dipping into the leftover sauce at the bottom of your pasta bowl!

For a little more veg, you could serve parmesan roasted asparagus on the side, make a pan of my primavera veggies, or do a simple garden salad.

Easy Homemade Garlic Bread

Bread Machine Focaccia

Parmesan Roasted Asparagus {Air Fryer or Oven}

Quick Prep Garden Salad Recipe