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    Italian Sausage and Spinach Pasta

    Feb 24, 2023 · 9 Comments

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    Jump to Recipe - Print Recipe

    Italian Sausage and Spinach Pasta is an easy pasta dish that is ready in 20 minutes! And creamy white wine parmesan cheese sauce is simply delicious! Easy creamy pasta dinner recipe that is quick and packed with flavor!

    Italian Sausage Pasta with Spinach in Creamy Sauce

    Italian sausage and spinach pasta is a family favorite Italian pasta recipe!Italian sausage is so easy to cook with, and spinach adds tremendous amount of flavor to this restaurant quality pasta dish! What’s even better is that creamy parmesan sauce comes in tandem with finely minced sautéed onions and garlic, and a splash of white wine!

    What kind of pasta to use for this Italian dish

    You will love rigatoni in this creamy pasta dish! Rigatoni is a big, ridged, tubular type of pasta. I love its texture in this cheesy pasta sauce. The ridges in the noodle help catch the sauce, giving every bite a punch of flavor. Definitely go for rigatoni!

    Sausage and Spinach Rigatoni

    If rigatoni is unavailable for some reason, my second choice is penne. Even though it’s a smaller tubular type of pasta, it will work great with the Parmesan cheese sauce.

    How do you make Italian sausage and spinach pasta?

    Very easy! This was such a delicious pasta dinner inspiration for me that I cannot wait to hear what everyone else has to say about it. Italian sausage and pasta do go together very well.

    You will start by cooking pasta according to package instructions. Once you have your  pasta boiling, start browning the Italian sausage. Next, add the prosciutto and continue cooking until sausage is browned and prosciutto is crispy.

    How to cook prosciutto perfectly

    If you never cooked prosciutto, below are a couple of things to keep in mind:

    1. Because prosciutto is very thin, it will cook very fast.
    2. You should cut prosciutto into ½-inch wide strips.
    3. Brown the prosciutto in the skillet for three to four minutes ONLY, until it becomes crispy.
    4. You can easily avoid overcooking prosciutto by adding it towards the end of the cooking process.
    Sausage and prosciutto

    How to make Parmesan Cheese Sauce

    You will now remove both from the pan in order to make the sauce next. First, add onion and garlic and cook until translucent and fragrant. Second, you will add spinach and then season everything with salt and pepper.

    Creamy sauce for Italian Sausage Pasta

    Once you smell something delicious coming out of that pan, it’s time to pour in wine! I usually let the wine reduce for 2-3 minutes at this point. Fire roasted tomatoes go in next, followed by the heavy cream and Parmesan cheese.

    Final Assembly

    Doing things in this order will make sure that your sauce is nice and even. See how easy it is to make the creamy sauce? Next, add the spinach and cook until wilted.

    Right before you add sausage and prosciutto back into the pan, make sure to taste the sauce and add more seasoning if necessary. If you want a little kick to the sauce, you can also add crushed red pepper flakes at this point. I simply add black pepper because it gives jus enough flavor and is not overwhelming.

    Italian Sausage pasta

    Now that sausage and prosciutto is back in the skillet, you can go ahead and add rigatoni and chopped parsley. Done! So delicious!

    Can I make it ahead?

    If you would like to make Italian Sausage and Spinach Pasta dish ahead of time, here are a few tips!

    Use oven to reheat. Because Italian sausage pasta contains heavy cream, it will have the best texture if you reheat it in the oven.

    Refrigerate for up to 1 day. Pasta will become soggy shortly so if you choose to make it ahead, plan on up to 12 to 20 hours max.

    Can I freeze it?

    Yes.

    • In order to do so, place your sausage pasta in the casserole dish and allow it to cool completely, then freeze.
    • Next, wrap the dish in a good layer or two of heavy-duty aluminum foil. 
    • Freeze for up to 2 months.
    Italian Sausage and Spinach Pasta on a plate

    Enjoy Italian Sausage and Spinach Pasta with a glass of wine!

    More easy pasta dinner ideas

    Creamy Chicken Pasta with Bacon

    Italian Chicken Pasta

    Sausage Pasta in Vodka Sauce

    Italian Sausage and Spinach Pasta
    Print Recipe
    5 from 2 votes

    Italian Sausage Pasta

    Perfect dinner recipe your whole family will love!
    Prep Time10 mins
    Cook Time20 mins
    Total Time30 mins
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: cajun sausage pasta, italian
    Servings: 4
    Author: Olya

    Ingredients

    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • 1 lb. Italian sausage
    • 4 oz. Prosciutto, (chopped)
    • ½ onion, (diced)
    • 3 garlic cloves, (minced)
    • 5 oz. fresh baby spinach, (about 2 cups)
    • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
    • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
    • ½ cup white wine
    • 14.5 oz. fire-roasted tomatoes, (1 can)
    • 1 cup heavy cream
    • ⅓ cup Parmesan cheese, (grated)
    • 10 oz rigatoni pasta
    • 2 tablespoon Parsley, (chopped)

    Instructions

    • Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet (cast iron or stainless steel). Brown the Italian sausage first, then add Prosciutto towards the end of browning the sausage (about 3-4 minutes). Once cooked, remove both to a paper towel-lined plate, set aside.
    • Add the onion, saute until translucent. Next add the garlic and saute another minute, until fragrant. Now add spinach and cook until wilted. Season with salt and pepper.
    • Pour in the wine and cook the alcohol off slightly, about 2 minutes. Now add fire-roasted tomatoes. Lower the heat, stir in the heavy cream. 
    • Add the Parmesan cheese and simmer just a bit, until the sauce has thickened slightly.
    • Next add cooked Prosciutto and Italian sausage. Simmer a bit again, to heat them up.
    • Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt the water. Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions. 
    • Drain the pasta and add it into the pan. Stir well to coat. Add chopped parsley.
    • Serve with extra Parmesan on top.
    Nutrition Facts
    Italian Sausage Pasta
    Amount Per Serving
    Calories 1100 Calories from Fat 675
    % Daily Value*
    Fat 75g115%
    Saturated Fat 32g200%
    Cholesterol 193mg64%
    Sodium 1515mg66%
    Potassium 793mg23%
    Carbohydrates 64g21%
    Fiber 4g17%
    Sugar 5g6%
    Protein 35g70%
    Vitamin A 4710IU94%
    Vitamin C 16.3mg20%
    Calcium 242mg24%
    Iron 4mg22%
    * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

    Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only. This information comes from online calculators. Although whatsinthepan.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures are only estimates.

    « Homemade Peach and Blueberry Puff Pastry Tart

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Sara says

      June 01, 2020 at 5:29 pm

      I’m not sure what happened but this was awful. No flavor. The sauce didn’t thicken at all and I added butter. I used plenty of spices and still nothing.

      Reply
      • Olga says

        June 02, 2020 at 4:31 pm

        Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning should do the trick seasoning wise. Also do not be afraid to use more salt. depending on how long you cook it, salt will evaporate. So adding more want cause your blood pressure to spike:).

        Reply
    2. Jusrina6 says

      September 01, 2019 at 1:03 pm

      Could you use half and half instead to cut down on calories?

      Reply
      • Olga says

        September 01, 2019 at 6:04 pm

        Yes, I’ve done that before with half and half.

        Reply
    3. Daniel V says

      August 22, 2019 at 12:02 am

      I hate cooked spinach, but have a ton of fresh basil in my garden, and I love basil. Do you think if would be over powering if I replaced the spinach with basil?

      Reply
      • Olga says

        August 23, 2019 at 8:29 am

        Probably use about 20-25 leaves of basil and it will taste great! That’s what I usually use in my other recipes when not using spinach.

        Reply
        • Daniel V says

          August 23, 2019 at 6:31 pm

          Thanks, I will give it a try this week

          Reply
    4. Andrea says

      August 20, 2019 at 7:20 pm

      Made this tonight and it was pretty good. The prosciutto was lost among the cream and sausage and onions and really quite useless. I would leave it out if I make it again. Also, in step 2, calling the onion and garlic mixture “sauce” was really quite confusing – it lead me to think that the tomatoes needed to go in, so I put them in after the garlic was sautéed. Not a big deal, just confusing.

      Reply
      • Olga says

        August 21, 2019 at 7:52 am

        Good idea. I will update.

        Reply

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