Looking for a meat sauce that’s not ground beef-based? I think you’ll like this one… Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce. It’s chunky and full of flavor. Perfect with penne or spaghetti. Just like many of my Italian recipes, this is one which I think tastes as good (if not better!) the next day.
First, chop up your veggies.
Half of a green pepper, cut into chunks about the size of quarter.
And half of an onion. Cut it into the same size chunks as the green pepper.
And mince two cloves of garlic.
Brown the Italian sausage links. I brown them whole for awhile, until they are almost cooked through. This allows me to then slice them into thin slices and finish cooking them
See that brown stuff on the bottom of the pan? That caramel-brown “stuff” will become delicious flavor in the sauce here in a little bit.
Take the sausage out of the pan, and add in the onion, garlic, and green pepper. Because I’m me, I like the green pepper to still have a little crunch to it. Therefore, I add it in near the end of the onion and garlic’s time in the pan.
Pour in the can of diced tomatoes. I use regular diced tomatoes in this dish as opposed to “petite diced” because the sauce is meant to be chunky. Since the pan is nice and hot, it should sizzle a little as the juices from the tomatoes deglaze the pan. This loosens up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Scrape them all up; they add depth to this sauce, and give it a nice savory flavor.
Then add the rest of the sauce ingredients: tomato paste, water, sugar, and seasonings. Turn down the heat and let it simmer on the stove for awhile. The longer it simmers, the more the flavors will blend. However, the longer it simmers, the softer the veggies will get. So if you don’t mind your peppers nice & soft, let it simmer away.
Serve over hot cooked pasta. The original recipe calls for spaghetti, but my husband thinks that particular cut of pasta is messy to eat. So we opted for penne.
Italian Sausage Pasta Sauce
Adapted from Taste of Home
1/2 lb Italian sausage links
1 teaspoon olive or canola oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/2 medium green pepper, chopped
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
3 oz tomato paste
1/4 cup water
1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Brown sausage in oil over medium-high heat. Remove from pan. Add garlic, onion, and green pepper and saute until tender. Add tomatoes and use juices to deglaze the pan, scraping up all of the bits. Add sausage back into pan, along with tomato paste, water, sugar, and seasonings. Reduce heat and simmer about 10-15 minutes. Serve over hot cooked pasta.
Serves 4.
