Spicy Italian Sausage Sauce with Cavatelli Pasta

Why You’ll Love this Recipe

• A hearty and delicious sauce!
• It has a nice kick of heat from the Calabrian chili peppers.
• ​Incredibly flavorful.
• Perfect to use with a variety of pasta shapes.
• Can be batch cooked and frozen.

Italian Sausage Sauce Origins

Italian sausage is from the southern region of Basilicata, Italy. However, it is so popular it can be found almost anywhere now. Although, what we know as Italian sausage in the United States is generally different from those made thousands of years ago! Today, in Italy, sausage can be found anywhere and the meats and spices and herbs used to flavor the sausages are very regional. The sausages found in Tuscany will differ from those found in Basilicata, and across the different regions as well. 

Using sausage as the primary meat for a sauce in Italian food just makes sense since it is already seasoned beautifully. Italian ragù has been around since before 1800 and the addition of sausage in ragù is popular in certain regions, such as Campania. We chose to call this a sauce rather than a ragù as tomatoes are an important part of the dish, unlike a traditional ragù where tomato is not as prominent.

Using Italian sausage results in incredible flavors in sauces, and we know you will love this spicy Italian sausage sauce as much as we do!

Ingredients

Here is what you need to make this recipe for Spicy Italian Sausage Sauce with Cavatelli Pasta

• Tomatoes: We use Campari tomatoes found in our grocery store. But any ripe, fresh tomato, such as roma, will work if you can’t find this variety.
• Italian Sausage: The “hot” variety of sausage meat works best here since it is a spicy sauce.
• Onion: We prefer sweet yellow onions in this dish.
• Tomato Paste: A little tomato paste adds richness to the sauce as well as additional tomato flavor.
• Dry Red Wine: A dry, full-bodied red wine such as Chianti Classico, Zinfandel, Syrah or Cabernet Sauvignon is perfect to use in this dish. Make sure it is a wine that you would actually drink, but it doesn't need to be expensive.
• Water
• Basil: Fresh basil is perfect for any sauce featuring tomatoes or sausage. Additionally, fresh basil is used as a garnish for the final dish.
• Oregano: Fresh oregano is a great combination with the basil and adds a quintessential Italian flavor. Fresh herbs are recommended in this recipe.
• Fennel Seeds: We use whole seeds in the sauce to add an additional level of flavor. Since we are using hot Italian sausage where the fennel seed flavor isn't as prominent as in sweet Italian sausage, we like adding more fennel seeds to enhance the flavor.
• Calabrian Chili Pepper Paste: We use a product of crushed chili peppers in oil for some unique spiciness in this sauce
• Kosher Salt & Black Pepper
• Cavatelli Pasta: We prefer to make our cavatelli pasta from scratch, but you can use store-bought pasta if it is easier for you.
• Grated Parmesan Cheese: We always serve grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese at the table with this pasta dish. This is of course optional, but we love adding lots of parmesan cheese to the final plated dish.

See recipe card below for quantities.

Substitutions

Here are a couple of common substitutions for the ingredients in this recipe:

• Sausage: You can certainly use sweet Italian sausage if you want to bring the heat level down a bit in this dish, although we generally find that hot Italian sausage isn't too spicy overall. You can also use hot/sweet Italian turkey sausage or Italian chicken sausage if you prefer to not eat pork sausage.
• Dry Red Wine: A dry white wine could be substituted and will produce a nice sauce with less richness and a different brighter flavor.
• Tomatoes: Campari tomatoes can be substituted with any variety large enough to peel, such as Roma tomatoes or any larger variety. The more ripe the better!
• Cavatelli Pasta: Any pasta shape will work in this recipe so use your favorite pasta, although we love it with short pasta, especially homemade eggless cavatelli! This sauce is also fabulous with potato gnocchi!

How to Make Spicy Italian Sausage Sauce with Cavatelli

This sauce comes together quite quickly and then simmers for about an hour. Peeling the tomatoes is not terribly difficult, but takes some time. It is worth it for the completed sauce, but you can skip this step if you don't mind the peels and seeds in the sauce. The sauce is cooked in one pot making clean up a breeze! Homemade sauces are significantly better than store-bought sauces, aren't packed with additives or preservatives, and they are generally easy to make! So, what are you waiting for?? Let's get cookin'!

Equipment

Here is what you need to make this dish

• Large pot to peel the tomatoes and to cook the pasta
• Large bowl of ice water to shock the tomatoes
• Dutch oven or other large pot to make the sauce.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Peel the Tomatoes

• Start a large pot of water boiling on the stove. Fill a large bowl with ice water. With each tomato, using a paring knife, cut the core out where the stem attaches to the tomato. On the opposite end, cut a shallow “X” so the skin will peel away. Do not dig deep into the tomato, just enough to cut through the skin. Add the tomatoes to the boiling water and watch for the skin to start peeling from the tomato. This takes less time the more ripe the tomatoes are, but it should take between 20 and 45 seconds. Remove the tomatoes to the ice bath. Once the tomatoes are cool enough to handle, peel them, cut them into quarters and discard the seeds. Dice the prepared tomatoes finely and set aside.

Step 2: Cook the Sausages

• Remove the casings from the sausage if you are using Italian sausage links and discard the casings. Add the sausage to the Dutch oven and cook over medium heat, breaking up the sausage as it cooks so you don’t have large pieces. Once the sausage is cooked through, remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Step 3: Cook the Onion

• You only need about a tablespoon of fat from the sausage, so discard excess fat if there is more. Add the onion and cook until the pieces just start to brown on the edges. Add the tomato paste and stir, and cook for about 20 seconds. Add the wine and cook for about 2 minutes or until the mixture is thick and reduces by about half.

Step 4: Finish the Sauce

• Add the cooked sausage back into the Dutch oven along with the diced tomatoes and remaining ingredients (except the pasta) and stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a boil. As soon as it boils, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for about 45 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally and scraping the pan with a wooden spoon so the sauce doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Taste for seasoning and add salt if needed.

Step 5: Cook the Pasta and Serve with the Sauce

• Bring a large pot of salted water (about 2 tablespoon of salt per 6-8 quarts of water) to a boil and add the cavatelli. Cook until al dente following package directions if using store-bought pasta and serve with the sauce. Garnish with chopped basil and grated Parmesan cheese if desired.

Variations

Here are a couple ways to change up this recipe:

• Add red bell peppers to the sauce (one medium bell pepper is plenty) and cook it with the onion. This adds a nice additional dimension to the sauce
• Make it less spicy. If you don't want the sauce to be spicy, omit the Calabrian chili peppers and use mild Italian sausage or sweet Italian Sausage instead.
• If you don’t want to use pork sausage, you can probably find Italian sausage made with chicken or turkey instead. You may need a bit of olive oil added to cook the onions if this is the case.
• Add cream. Adding a little bit of heavy cream to the final sauce will give it a really nice consistency, similar to a bolognese or ragù, for a rich and creamy sauce texture.

Storage

How to store leftover spicy Italian sausage sauce and cavatelli pasta:

• You can store leftovers in a covered airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. In fact, the sauce is often better the next day!

How to reheat leftover sausage sauce and cavatelli?

• If you have leftovers, simply reheat slowly in a saucepan or skillet on low heat until heated through

Can you freeze leftover spicy Italian sausage sauce?

• You can absolutely freeze the sauce, and this is a great recipe to make ahead and freeze. We often make a large batch and freeze it so that we can easily use it anytime we want, especially busy weeknights. It will keep without losing any flavor for about 2-3 months. Simply defrost and reheat on low until heated through.

Troubleshooting

This produces a rather thick, meaty sauce. If your sauce seems too thin, cook it a little longer to reduce to your desired thickness. If it is too thick, just add a little bit of water to loosen it up, or some of the starchy pasta water after you cook the pasta.

What to make with Spicy Italian Sausage Sauce Cavatelli?

This makes a hearty meal on its own and really doesn’t need a main course. It is a complete dish!

Sometimes we like to enjoy this Italian sausage pasta dish with a side salad with our quick and easy Basil Balsamic Vinaigrette or with a nice vegetable side dish such as asparagus.