Ready in 25 minutes from start to finish, this creamy sausage pasta sauce could not be easier to make or more delicious! Inspired by “Pasta alla Norcina” from the Umbria region of Italy (and also with what I had in my fridge when I made it), this version skips using often expensive hard-to-find Italian truffles so anyone anywhere can make it. Not only does it satisfy every craving for creamy pasta, but it does so without being heavy. As always you can find step-by-step recipe photos below, plus a creamy sausage pasta video in the recipe card.
Why This Recipe Works
In short, this pasta works because of the simple high-quality ingredients.
I’ve used artisanal Italian Norcia salsiccia (pork sausage) that’s seasoned with garlic, salt, black pepper, and paprika. The Norcia butchers who raise the famous black belted pigs (Cinta Senese maiale) have been famous for over 2,000 years because of their delicious prosciutto and sausage-making skills and the quality of the meat from this special breed of pigs.
This is not the fennel-laced, spicy Italian sausage that probably comes to mind when you think “Italian sausage”. Instead, it’s a fresh mild sausage that relies on the quality of the pork made from happily-raised, slow-growing, free-roaming black pigs. In this pork pasta recipe, the tender meat adds its own delicious flavor to the base of this creamy pasta sauce.
Artisanal bronze-drawn pasta adds flavor and texture that’s superior to regular commercially-made pasta for a few reasons. Many of the most famous commercial pasta makers use Teflon dies to extrude the pasta which creates a smooth outer pasta while artisanal pasta is extruded through bronze (or even gold) dies which creates a rougher outer pasta that allows sauce to better cling to it.
Also, most commercial pasta makers use driers to quick-dry pasta instead of allowing it to dry more slowly and naturally the way artisanal pasta is dried. For this recipe, we chose a rigatoni from one of our favorite pasta makers in Italy, Cavalier Guiseppi Cocco from the Abruzzo region (where Luca’s family is from and where we have a second family home).
Adding starchy pasta cooking water to the sauce towards the end of cooking helps revitalize the cream soaked up by the sausage and helps bind the grated cheese tossed in right at the very end before serving. This results in a super delicious, perfectly glossy, smooth, creamy pasta sauce that doesn’t feel heavy.
Why We Love This Creamy Sausage Pasta Recipe
- It’s the easiest creamy pasta recipe we make
- It’s ready in 25 minutes from start to finish
- It’s a restaurant-quality pasta dish that anyone can make with great results
- Artisanal bronze-drawn pasta adds a delicious texture and taste
- Wine intensifies the flavor of the sauce and brings out the flavor of the sausage
- Heavy cream adds a silky richness to the sauce
- Kiddos love this pasta as much as adults
- A perfect pasta for anyone who loves Fettuccini Alfredo
- The ingredients are versatile (you can use dry white wine, dry red wine, or even Marsala)
This Creamy Pasta Sauce is Versatile — (Substitutions You Can Make)
White wine is typically used to deglaze the pan in this sauce, but I’ve also substituted dry red wine, and even dry Marsala and they’re all super delicious and produce similar taste results. Just use what you have or what you like to drink. Also, authentic pasta alla Norcina contains shaved truffles, but we’re not using them for this recipe, but if you have real truffle (not truffle oil!) shave them right into the sauce at the end.
I’ve added fresh basil leaves to perfume the sauce (which is not in a real Norcina sauce but it’s delicious). Use them or don’t. I also add a tiny amount of finely chopped carrots which adds a slight nutty sweetness to the sauce (these are also not found in a real Norcina sauce).
You get the idea here — this sausage cream sauce is versatile as long as you stick with the basic ratios of cream to cheese and starchy pasta cooking water for sauce.
Almost Alla Norcina Pasta (Pasta w/Creamy Sausage and Wine Sauce) Ingredients
There are just a handful of ingredients in this creamy pasta dish so use the highest quality ingredients you can find for the best results. If you can’t find Italian Norcia salsiccia, simply substitute your favorite fatty mild pork sausage (like sweet bratwurst meat, or even Italian sausage if you want).
- rigatoni pasta (sub penne, or favorite pasta)
- Italian Norcia sausage (sub favorite sweet sausage or make your own) *see recipe notes
- quality dry white wine (sub dry red wine, or Marsala wine)
- shallot (sub onion)
- carrot
- heavy cream
- Parmigiano or Pecorino cheese (sub Grana Padano or Parmesan)
- garlic cloves
- extra virgin olive oil
- fresh basil leaves (optional)
- salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- finely chopped chives for garnish (optional but recommended)
- freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
How to Make Creamy Rigatoni Pasta with Sausage & Wine Sauce (Almost Alla Norcina)
This is one of the easiest pasta dishes we make and it’s ready in 20 minutes from start to finish (30 if you’re a little slower with your prep work). Plus, it’s going to taste better than a lot of restaurant pasta you’ve been overpaying for. I usually start heating the pasta water about 5 minutes into cooking time which allows the sausage cream sauce to be ready in just about the time it takes these artisanal rigatoni noodles to cook up perfectly al dente.
- Boil the pasta water. While you’re working on making the sauce, bring a pot of lightly salted pasta water to a boil. Do not salt it “like the sea” (that’s bad advice). Instead, salt it just enough to taste it and it flavors the pasta well but doesn’t make our finished sauce too salty later on when we add some of this starchy water to the sausage cream sauce.
- Build the sauce base. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a sauté pan or skillet set over medium-high heat, add the smashed garlic and shallots, and cook until fragrant and shallots are just tender but not browned (about 2 minutes). Add the chopped carrots and cook until just tender (about 2 more minutes) and reduce the heat to medium. Add the sausage pinching it off into small pieces as you go. Season with a little salt and add 3 basil leaves (if using) and cook the meat for about 5 to 6 minutes or until completely cooked through. Increase the heat once more to medium-high and continue cooking the sausage until lightly browned (about 4 minutes). *At this stage when the meat goes from just being cooked through, to slightly browned, it will start to sizzle more and sound different. This browning (building the fond) helps add a lot of flavor to the sauce when you deglaze the pan with wine in the next step.
- Deglaze the pan with wine. With the heat on medium-high, add the wine to the pan and use a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan (the fond) and stir to incorporate it. Set a timer for 3 minutes and cook until the wine has evaporated and the meat and the pan look glossy.
- Add the heavy cream. Add the cream and 3 fresh basil leaves to the sausage mixture, stir to combine, and cook for 3 minutes, or until it looks like the sausage has soaked up most (or all) of the cream. At this point, your pasta should be just about cooked through and the starchy cooking water is ready to be added.
- Finish the cream sauce. During the last 3 minutes of pasta cooking time, remove about 3/4 cup of starchy cooking water to a heatproof glass. Add about 1/4 cup to the sausage cream mixture and stir to incorporate it. You’ll notice the cream magically reappears and the sauce looks glossy from binding the starches to the fat in the cream. Add more starchy water as needed to reach desired consistency stirring and cooking just until it looks glossy and smooth (not goopy or thick, nor watery). Taste the sauce and adjust seasonings (adding salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste), but remember you’ll be adding grated cheese in the next step which also has salt in it.
- Strain the pasta and assemble the pasta. Add the strained pasta directly to the sauce and toss everything quickly to combine. Turn off the heat, add the grated cheese, and diced chives (if using), and toss well. Serve immediately, and Enjoy!
How to Make Creamy Sausage & Wine Pasta (Almost all Norcina) step-by-step recipe photos
A Few More Delicious Pasta Dishes
If you love pasta as much as we do, we’ve added a few of our tried and true family favorite pasta recipes for you to try below.
- Anniversary Pasta (Spicy Shrimp Tomato-Alfredo Sauce w/Rigatoni)
- Italian Duck Ragù with Bigoli (Bigoli al Ragù d’Anatra)
- Classic Lasagna Bolognese (authentic Italian recipe)
- Italian Speck & Asparagus Lasagna (w/Asparagus Béchamel & Zucchini Crema)
- Shrimp Fettuccini Alfredo Pasta Recipe (w/Parmigiano Cream Sauce)
- Baked Ziti with Ragù (from Scratch)
- 15-Minute Shrimp Pasta w/Garganelli (the Italian Way)
- Spaghetti alla Carbonara (Cook Pasta Like A Roman)
- Tagliatelle al Ragù (Northern Italian Beef Ragù w/Pasta)
- Cajun Style Royal Red Shrimp Pasta for One (or a crowd)
- Triple Shrimp Trighetto Pasta (Creamy Shrimp Pasta)
- Abruzzese Almost-Bolognese (Lasagna al Ragù w/Porcini Béchamel)
Let’s get started!
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Creamy Pasta with Sausage & Wine Sauce (Almost Pasta alla Norcina)
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
This creamy sausage and wine pasta sauce could not be easier to make or more delicious and it’s ready in just 25 minutes from start to finish! Inspired by “Pasta alla Norcina” from the Umbria region of Italy (and also with what I had in my fridge when I made it), this version skips using expensive hard-to-find Italian truffles so anyone anywhere can make it. And believe me, you won’t miss them because each heavenly bite stands up all on its own. Not only does this creamy sausage and wine sauce satisfy every craving for creamy pasta, but it does it without being heavy.
Ingredients
- 12 ounces rigatoni pasta (350g) (sub penne, or favorite pasta)
- Italian Norcia sausage (260g) (sub favorite sweet sausage or make your own) *see recipe notes
- 2 tablespoons quality dry white wine (30g) (sub dry red wine, or Marsala wine)
- 1 large shallot, finely diced (50g) (sub onion)
- 1/2 small carrot, finely diced (30g)
- 1/2 cup heavy cream (115g)
- 1 ounce grated Parmigiano or Pecorino cheese (30g) (sub Grana Padano or Parmesan)
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (15g)
- 6 basil leaves (optional)
- salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- finely chopped chives for garnish (optional but recommended)
- a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
Instructions
- Boil the pasta water. While you’re working on making the sauce, bring a pot of lightly salted pasta water to a boil. Do not salt it “like the sea” (that’s bad advice). Instead, salt it just enough to taste it and it flavors the pasta well but doesn’t make our finished sauce too salty later on when we add some of this starchy water to the sausage cream sauce.
- Build the sauce base. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a sauté pan or skillet set over medium-high heat, add the smashed garlic and shallots, and cook until fragrant and shallots are just tender but not browned (about 2 minutes). Add the chopped carrots and cook until just tender (about 2 more minutes) and reduce the heat to medium. Add the sausage pinching it off into small pieces as you go. Season with a little salt and add 3 basil leaves (if using) and cook the meat for about 5 to 6 minutes or until completely cooked through. Increase the heat once more to medium-high and continue cooking the sausage until lightly browned (about 4 minutes). *At this stage when the meat goes from just being cooked through, to slightly browned, it will start to sizzle more and sound different. This browning (building the fond) helps add a lot of flavor to the sauce when you deglaze the pan with wine in the next step.
- Deglaze the pan with wine. With the heat on medium-high, add the wine to the pan and use a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan (the fond) and stir to incorporate it. Set a timer for 3 minutes and cook until the wine has evaporated and the meat and the pan look glossy.
- Add the heavy cream. Add the cream and 3 fresh basil leaves to the sausage mixture, stir to combine, and cook for 3 minutes, or until it looks like the sausage has soaked up most (or all) of the cream. At this point, your pasta should be just about cooked through and the starchy cooking water is ready to be added.
- Finish the cream sauce. During the last 3 minutes of pasta cooking time, remove about 3/4 cup of starchy cooking water to a heatproof glass. Add about 1/4 cup to the sausage cream mixture and stir to incorporate it. You’ll notice the cream magically reappears and the sauce looks glossy from binding the starches to the fat in the cream. Add more starchy water as needed to reach desired consistency stirring and cooking just until it looks glossy and smooth (not goopy or thick, nor watery). Taste the sauce and adjust seasonings (adding salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste), but remember you’ll be adding grated cheese in the next step which also has salt in it.
- Strain the pasta and assemble the pasta. Add the strained pasta directly to the sauce and toss everything quickly to combine. Turn off the heat, add the grated cheese, and diced chives (if using), and toss well. Serve immediately, and Enjoy!
Notes
- If you love garlic, feel free to increase the amount used and smash it into the sauce towards the end when you add the cream. This will give you a super garlicky white wine cream sauce without spending any prep time mincing it. We prefer to smash the garlic, season the olive oil with it first as it blisters, and then allow it to perfume the sauce before removing it just before adding the pasta and tossing everything together. But if you’re a garlic lover, go ahead and mash the garlic cloves into the sauce at the end.
- Although white wine is typically used to deglaze the pan in this sauce, I’ve also made this pasta using a dry red wine, and even Marsala wine, and guess what — they’re all super delicious and produce really similar taste results. Just use what you have or what you like to drink. Also, authentic pasta alla Norcina contains shaved truffles, but we’re not using them for this recipe. But do NOT use truffle oil as a replacement because it tastes nothing like real truffles and could ruin or overpower this delicious delicate sauce.
- I’ve added fresh basil leaves to perfume the sauce which is not found in a real Norcina sauce (but it’s delicious). Use them or don’t.
- I use a tiny amount of finely chopped carrots which add a slightly nutty sweetness to the sauce, but they too are not found in a real Norcina sauce but they’re delicious.
- Add sautéed mushrooms or a few finely diced grape tomatoes at the end which also taste great in this pasta.
- If you find that your sauce is ready before the pasta is finished cooking, after you’ve added the cream to the sausage mixture, allow it to cook for a couple of minutes and then turn off the heat. At this point, the sausage will have absorbed the cream and you may be thinking there won’t be any cream sauce at all. But don’t worry, this is where the magic of the starchy pasta cooking water comes in. When the pasta is about 3 minutes from al dente, turn the heat back on to the skillet with the sausage mixture. get it nice and warm and once it’s hot, lade in a little pasta water and watch the sauce come to life. It’s amazing and at this point, it’s hard not to eat it by the spoonful (really). Finish the pasta as directed.
- If you love the flavor of basil, feel free to increase the amount used. And alternatively, if you don’t enjoy basil, simply omit it.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/4 of recipe
