Tomato Penne with Italian Sausage
Cook Time
30 Minutes
Level
Hard
Yield
6
Tomato Penne with Italian Sausage is made of a traditional tomato sauce with Italian sausage, onions and garlic. To make it creamy some mascarpone cheese is added before tossing it with the penne pasta. A little fresh basil at the end added a little bit of sweetness. You can use any kind of Italian sausage that you would like. I prefer to use hot, but this would be just as good with mild or even sweet Italian sausage. Just keep in mind when you are seasoning the sauce that the sausage can be kind of salty so use lesser salt for the dish
Ingredients for Tomato Penne with Italian Sausage:
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage
- 1/2 medium onion, chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, diced
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes with Basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 cup mascarpone cheese (Italian cream cheese)
- kosher salt and pepper as needed
- 1 pound penne pasta
- handful of fresh basil leaves
Method to prepare Tomato Penne with Italian Sausage:
1. In a large skillet, brown Italian sausage over medium heat. Remove to colander to strain the grease.
2. In the same skillet, add onion and garlic. Cook for a few minutes or until onion has softened.
3. Add tomatoes and oregano and sausage to the skillet. Cook over medium heat while you prepare your pasta.
4. Meanwhile, start your pasta. Cook pasta according to package directions. Strain.
5. Stir mascarpone cheese into tomato sauce. Once the cheese has melted, stir in penne pasta. Toss to coat.
6. Chiffonade basil and sprinkle it over the pasta. To do this, stack a few basil leaves on top of each other. Roll them up.
7. Serve it hot.
