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!
Orecchiette Sausage Pasta
Don’t you hate it when you twirl an enormous mound of spaghetti on your fork, only to find that you’ve just got pasta and no toppings??
Even more annoying is when you bring it up to your mouth and loose strands slap around your mouth, causing pasta sauce to splatter all over your face – and your white top.
Such are the challenges of our pasta lovin’ life.
Thankfully, the Italians came up with a solution – little cup shaped pastas called “orecchiette” which act as little scoops to hold pasta sauce. How clever is that?! 🙌🏻
Truth be told, I do not know if orecchiette pasta was invented to solve the pasta-slapping/sauce splattering/toppingless spaghetti problem.
I just know that it’s wildly practical – and we should all use it more often!! 😂
(PS And you can, in fact, use it for virtually any pasta recipe. Orecchiette Bolognese, anyone??)
Today, I’m sharing a flavour loaded, decadent creamy tomato sausage pasta sauce that I deem to be orecchiette worthy. The little bits of sausage nestled in those little cups, blanketed in that creamy sauce … mmmm! It’s so good it should be illegal!
“Orecchiette” means “ear” in Italian which refers to the ear-like shape of this type of pasta.
What you need for Orecchiette Sausage Pasta
Here’s what you need:
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Italian sausages – the better the sausage, the better the sauce! Here in Australia, Italian sausages only come in link form (as pictured above), but squeezing the meat out is cinch to do. In fact, anyone with a lifetime of cooking sausages knows full well the meat wants to come out of the casings!
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Kale – to break up the richness of the sauce. Spinach works great here too;
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Tomato Passata or puree – this thickens the sauce as well as providing lovely tomato flavour to cut through the richness of the cream and sausage. Tomato Passata, called tomato puree in the US, is just pure, plain tomato that’s pureed and strained – nowadays found in everyday supermarkets in Australia. But don’t fret if you can’t find it – crushed tomato or even tomato paste can be used in a cinch (quantities in recipe);
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Parmesan – for a flavour boost!
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Cream and milk – cream provides the richness, milk thins out the sauce more whilst still keeping the sauce that lovely pink colour!
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Garlic – because very few of my recipes don’t have garlic;
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Italian herbs – staying on theme with the sausages. Just use a store bought premix. Not the end of the world if you don’t use dried herbs in this, we get loads of flavour from the sausages; and
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Red pepper flakes (chilli flakes) – for a hint of warmth. Optional!
How to make Orecchiette Sausage Pasta
Nothing unique about the making part! The sausage pasta sauce comes together in the same time the orecchiette pasta takes to cook (12 minutes), making this a great quick dinner recipe.
KEY TIP: Avoid the cheap sausages that are a uniform pink colour – they are loaded with fillers. Look for sausages with specks of meat and white fat, as pictured above.
On the side
I’d love to be able to tell you that this is a complete meal…but it’s a wee bit light on the greens! 😂 So add a fresh salad on the side to round it out – here are a few suggestions:
You know something? I just realised that I forgot to mention another very important characteristic of orecchiette pasta:
YOU CAN EAT IT WITH A SPOON
Which means it falls into a very important category of food I call Couch Food, being food you can eat with a spoon without taking your eyes off the TV.
Or trashy novel. Or a rag-mag.
Just something that requires minimal brainpower so you can concentrate on really savouring Every. Single. Bite! – Nagi x
PS I suppose one could eat this while reading something a little more intellectual, but I just think my brain would implode with all that delicious going on in my mouth as well as having to think while reading? My brain just doesn’t have the bandwidth for that.😇
Watch how to make it
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Orecchiette Sausage Pasta in Creamy Tomato Sauce
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
- 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)
- Heat oil in a very large skillet over high heat. Add garlic and cook for 15 seconds.
- Add sausage meat and cook, breaking it up as you go, until there are some little golden bits - about 4 minutes.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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).
- Serve immediately, garnished with freshly grated parmesan
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More creamy pasta recipes
For all those days when nothing but a creamy pasta will do….
Life of Dozer
Tip run today – boot was full of rubbish. (Yes Dozer, I’m referring to YOU! 😂)
This was restaurant quality pasta! I subbed whole milk for cream because it’s what i had on hand, and added a handful of minced onion, other than that I followed the recipe closely. Will become a staple in my house. Also I paired with an Argentine Malbec and my mind was blown. So good!
Forgot to add the rating to my previous comment!
Five stars!
Have made this several times – sometimes with shells and other times with the correct Orecchiette. Always sub the kale with baby spinach and use mild Italian sausage from my local butcher.
Absolutely delicious meal.
My husband made this on the weekend. One of the best pasta dishes we have had in a long time. Thank you so much!
Absolutely delicious! Lovely flavours. Easy and quick weeknight dinner!
I used the snags I had in my fridge, which unfortunately weren’t the best. This didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped.
Next time I make this I’ll be making a trip to the butcher to find the best snags 🙂
Have made this a couple of times now and both hubby and I think it is by far our favorite pasta dish. We use spinach instead of kale but that’s the only change. If you haven’t given it a try you are missing out 😉
Wow, just wow! I’ve cooked many wonderful RTE recipes, but this is my first review. Everything was perfect, can’t wait to make it again.
Couldn’t find the pasta but used Macaroni instead! Woolworths only had the pork and fennel sausages ( I’m not a fan of fennel) so got “ continental sausages “ from my local butcher. Hubby said the pasta was one of the best dishes I’ve cooked and even my 5 year old ate it and he is one picky eater! Definitely will be on rotation at our place!
I cooked this tonight & it was delicious!! I used pork sausages from my local butcher & well drained frozen spinach. I found the orecchiette pasta at Coles. Will be cooking this recipe again. Plenty of leftovers too. Thanks, Nagi x
Made this tonight, and it is HEAVEN!! Couldn’t find orecchiette so used rigatoni which was excellent. The kale adds a nice crunch and contrast. The sauce is perfect and it made enough for lunch tomorrow for the two of us after stuffing our faces for dinner. We will definitely make it again.
Made this tonight for dinner and it did not disappoint, like all other recipetineats dishes.
It will definitely go on our weekly rotating menu.
Can’t thank you Nagi enough for how you have revolutionised my kitchen experience to the best. Because of you, I love cooking now 🥰
Thank you 🩷
One of my all time fave Nagi recipes. Have made this a number of times. Never fails.
One of my all time fave Nagi recipes. Never fails.
This is one of my all time favourite dishes. Full of flavour and so easy to make. It impresses everyone I make it for.
This is one for the rotation. Sensational! My 10yo cooked this tonight (the kids cook on wednesdays), it was easy enough for him to prep while waiting for the pasta water to boil. Very impressed with this dish. So simple, so easy, SO TASTY! Plenty of food dropped on the floor due to the 10yo chef- Dozer would have loved it!
Have made dozens of times – an absolutely fabulous recipe that is great for dinner parties. The woolies pork and fennel sausages work perfectly (I also toast off some extra fennel seeds to add even more flavour). 10/10
Amazing! I was a bit worried as I made quite a few changes… used pulse pasta (the spiral ones made from red lentils), had no wine so used water, had no parmesan so used a bit of cheddar, and still it was absolutely BRILLIANT!!! So pleasantly surprised!
Hi Nagi, I love your website so much. 🫶Actual life saver.
I just made this for dinner and it is yum!!
Was slightly concerned about the colour of the sauce; It went bright pink! 😬 I’m not sure if I did too much cream/milk or too much passata?
Main thing: it was super tasty,😋 thank you.
Thanks for another great recipe Nagi. I used Italian pork and fennel sausages and it was delicious. Next time I’ll try it with chorizo and I might add a bit of tomato paste to give it a slightly more tomato flavour, but it is great as is. You could probably adjust the recipe to read 6-8 portions. I fed 4 people and there’s still more than half left!