Name: Easy Sausage and Mushroom Maccheroni Pasta
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 7 ounces Italian salsiccia (or ground pork seasoned w/salt and pepper) (200g); 6 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced or diced (175g); 7 ounces white or yellow onion, diced (about 1 large onion) (200g); 28 ounces canned or jarred tomatoes, finely chopped or crushed (690g); 1/4 cup (2 ounces) dry white wine (58g); 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (42g); 2 medium or large garlic cloves, peeled and smashed; 3 freshly dried sage leaves (optional but recommended); 3-inch sprig of freshly dried rosemary (or fresh rosemary) (optional but recommended); salt to taste; crushed red peppers or dried whole peppers to taste (optional); grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano, for serving; 12 ounces maccheroni pasta (or other preferred noodles) (320g)

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If you're looking for a new easy pasta recipe to add to your menu rotation, this one's really delicious and easy. This pork and mushroom tomato pasta sauce is made with Italian "salsiccia" (a high-quality fatty pork sausage seasoned with just salt and black pepper), sweet jarred tomatoes, pan-seared golden mushrooms, onions, garlic, white wine, and a handful of fresh herbs. and herbs -- and it's super tasty.

Sausage and Mushroom Maccheroni Pasta in the pot looking scrumptious and glistening with tomato sauce.

When you're really busy, this pasta can be ready in 30 minutes (or you can leave it to simmer for an hour). Either way, it's a no-fuss, wholesome meal for the whole family and ready for easy weeknight dinners.

If you enjoy this quick pasta, try this Creamy Pumpkin Pasta Sauce with Sausage and Kale, or this perfect spaghetti with beef and tomato sauce!

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What's the Difference Between Maccheroni and Macaroni?
Sausage and Mushroom Maccheroni Pasta Ingredients
How to Make Sausage and Mushroom Maccheroni Pasta
Sausage and Mushroom Maccheroni Pasta step-by-step recipe photos and instructions
Ways to Customize Sausage and Maccheroni Pasta
How to Cook Pasta Like a Pro Best Tips
Looking for More Delicious Pasta Dishes to Make?
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📖 Recipe

raw fresh maccheroni pasta noodles lying on a cutting board with pink salt near it in a measuring spoon

What's the Difference Between Maccheroni and Macaroni?

The first time I ate fresh chewy maccheroni pasta was here in Italy. You find all shapes and varieties of delicious fresh egg pasta in the refrigerated aisle of local grocery stores here.

This isn't the same kind of tube-shaped pasta found in those little blue boxes with packets of powdered cheese that most of us grew up with. Although, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese still holds a special place in my heart♡. This is a completely different kind of macaroni experience.

This particular maccheroni noodle has ridges (called "rigate" in Italy) on the outside to help capture even more sauce. You can buy the smooth ("lisce") maccheroni as well.

Both versions are deliciously chewy and worth seeking out. Nowadays, you can easily find this style of pasta in the States, too. If you can't find fresh maccheroni, you can always use another dried or fresh egg pasta like tagliatelle, pappardelle, or even fettuccine.

Feel free to use regular macaroni, penne, rigatoni, or whatever you can find, because this sauce pairs well with just about anything.

closeup in the pot of sliced and chopped white button mushrooms with a golden brown hue from cooking in the garlic and olive oil with herbs visible

pork, musthroom, garlic, and herbs mixture cooking in the dutch oven with sage and olive oil looking nicely browned

Sausage and Mushroom Maccheroni Pasta Ingredients

This recipe was (very) loosely inspired by the ragù alla Bolognese sauce I recently made. Although this sauce we're making today isn't really considered a ragù because it cooks in just 30 minutes (or up to 1 hour if you have the extra time).

Whereas, Bolognese cooks for at least three hours. A good sausage and mushroom combo is something we enjoy, and the addition of wine in this recipe enhances the overall flavor of the final dish because it unlocks even more flavor from the tomatoes (science is amazing!), but you can omit it if you'd like.

7 ounces Italian salsiccia (or ground pork seasoned w/salt and pepper) (200g)
6 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced or diced (175g)
7 ounces white or yellow onion, diced (about 1 large onion) (200g)
28 ounces canned or jarred tomatoes, finely chopped or crushed (690g)
¼ cup (2 ounces) dry white wine (58g)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (42g)
2 medium or large garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
3 freshly dried sage leaves (optional but recommended)
3-inch sprig of freshly dried rosemary (or fresh rosemary) (optional but recommended)
salt to taste
crushed red peppers or dried whole peppers to taste (optional)
grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano, for serving
6 ounces maccheroni pasta (or other preferred noodles) (160g) *this is enough noodles for two adult servings, but there will be leftover sauce which can be reheated and eaten with 2 more servings of freshly cooked pasta later in the week. This sauce recipe makes a total of 4 adult servings.

closeup of Sausage + Mushroom Maccheroni Pasta in the pot looking scrumptious and glistening

How to Make Sausage and Mushroom Maccheroni Pasta

This pasta is super easy to make, but if you need any tips or visuals, scroll to the end for step-by-step photos.

Blister the garlic. Heat a dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot on medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and smashed garlic cloves. Cook for a few minutes until the garlic is slightly blistered and fragrant.
Cook the mushrooms. Add the mushrooms and herbs, stir to coat with olive oil, season with a little salt, and then don't touch them again until you notice the mushrooms starting to turn golden brown. Then give them a good stir and continue cooking until most of the mushrooms have a light golden hue and you notice the bottom of the pan starting to turn brown (this is the "fond" and it always equals flavor).
Cook the onions. Add the onions and a little salt and sweat them until they turn translucent. *You'll notice the fond disappearing bc of the moisture from the onions, but then after some minutes, a new fond starts appearing and the onions become a much deeper color.
Cook the pork. Add the sausage and break it up into small pieces with the back of a wooden spoon as it cooks. Season the pork with a little salt if it needs it.
Deglaze the pan with wine. When the sausage is cooked through and beginning to turn a deeper golden brown, add the wine while scraping the bottom of the pan to get the brown sticky bits incorporated into the meat and mushroom mixture. Cook for 5 minutes on high to help evaporate some of the alcohol.
Add the tomatoes. Add the tomatoes and 2 tablespoons more of the olive oil (if needed), stir the mixture, season with salt and crushed red pepper (if using), cover with a lid, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes for a quick pasta sauce, or for 1 hour for a longer simmer time.
Cook the pasta. Add pasta to a lightly salted boiling pot of water and cook according to package directions, stirring occasionally, until about 1 minute before al dente. Add 2 to 3 spoonfuls of pasta cooking water to the saucepot and stir. Strain the pasta and add the noodles to the saucepan and quickly toss with sauce to coat. Turn the heat off and serve with freshly grated cheese, Enjoy!

Sausage and Mushroom Maccheroni Pasta step-by-step recipe photos and instructions

a pile of sliced mushrooms next to a pile of diced white onion

sliced fresh mushrooms and diced mushrooms on cutting board

Ways to Customize Sausage and Maccheroni Pasta

make it spicy by adding whole dried peppers or crushed red peppers
make it wine-free by simply leaving out the wine
replace the salsiccia with sweet or spicy Italian sausage, or regular ground pork seasoned w/salt and black pepper
tenderize the pork by adding a ¼-1/2 cup milk to the sauce
add extra veggies like chopped carrot or celery
replace the onion with shallots or leeks (white part only)
add a porky or smokey flavor by throwing in a handful of pancetta or prosciutto cotto to the cooking sausage

beautiful sausage and mushroom pasta sauce with a deep red glistening color and a wooden spoon resting in the pot

How to Cook Pasta Like a Pro Best Tips

If you've eaten a forkful of pasta at your favorite restaurant, you may have wondered why it can sometimes be so much richer and velvety (even tastier) than the stuff you make at home.

Don't pre-cook your pasta noodles. In most cases, try to time the pasta so that the sauce is ready just before (or well in advance of) the noodles and not the other way around.
Add starchy pasta cooking water to the sauce. Just before the noodles are finished cooking to "al dente" doneness, add a little starchy water to the sauce and stir.
Don't over-salt the cooking water. If the pasta cooking water is too salty, it'll make your final sauce too salty when it gets added. Alternatively, if the pasta water is not salty enough, the noodles will be bland.