Sun Dried Tomato Paste
This dish is loaded to the brim with flavour. No false promises! One of the key ingredients is sun dried tomatoes. They’ve got a really intense flavour that lends itself so well to both sausage and pasta. To get the party started we’re going to create a flavour base, by blitzing together sun dried tomatoes, fresh basil and chicken stock. This will give the sauce a really deep and tangy flavour. Process shots: add sun dried tomatoes, basil and stock to food processor (photo 1), blitz until well blended (photo 2).
Creamy Tomato Sausage Pasta
The sausage is the heart and soul of this dish. I originally tested this with beef and it just didn’t compare to the rich flavours of sausage.
What kind of Sausage to use?
You’ll want to get regular ground sausage meat. NOT ground pork (much less flavoursome than sausage meat). If you can’t find ground sausage meat just squeeze the meat from some good quality neutral flavoured sausages.
Mascarpone
Instead of adding cream to this sauce, I love using mascarpone. It’s got slightly more flavour than cream and mellows out the powerful sun dried tomato flavour so beautifully. It’s also obviously much thicker than cream, so you won’t need to simmer and thicken it.
Tomato Puree
Aka ‘Tomato Paste’ in the US. This serves two purposes. The first is to add a further tomato depth of flavour to the pasta. The second is to add colour. It’s important to fry the tomato puree so it turns a little sweet, then deglaze with the sauce. The difference between cooked and ‘raw’ tomato puree is quite significant! Process shots: fry onion (photo 1), fry garlic (photo 2), add sausage (photo 3), fry then stir in tomato puree (photo 4), stir in sun dried tomato paste (photo 5), stir in mascarpone (photo 6).
Starchy Pasta Water
This is what’s going to create the sauce and turn it extra creamy. By adding pasta water to the mix, you allow the starch molecules to emulsify with the fat and create a thick and creamy sauce. Important to heavily season the pasta water with salt (so it doesn’t dilute the flavour of the sauce) and use it after the pasta has cooked (so it’s extra starchy – don’t scoop straight after adding pasta).
What’s the best pasta to use?
I absolutely love using rigatoni because the hole is quite large it’s quite often that sauce/sausage will gather in there, which is just the best. I tend to stay away from longer cuts of pasta because it tends to bring with it the comparison to a bolognese. Process shots: toss in cooked pasta with pasta water (photos 1&2), toss in parmesan (photos 3&4).
Serving Sausage Pasta
Can I make this ahead of time?
Yes! I recommend just saving a cup of starchy pasta water to thin out. Just reheat on stove, using pasta water to thin out as needed until piping hot. You can also freeze this and thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat on the stove.
What can I serve with this?
I find it’s hearty and filling as it is, but you could consider any of the following:
Roasted Garlic Bread Cheesy Garlic Bread Garlic Butter Potato Skins Feta Bruschetta
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full creamy tomato sausage pasta recipe shall we?!
How to make Creamy Tomato Sauce Pasta (Full Recipe & Video)
If you’re looking for a similar creamy tomato style pasta then definitely check out my Penne Alfredo with Bacon & Sun Dried Tomato! For other similar recipes give these a ganders too:
Delicious Sausage Pasta Recipes
Sausage and Fennel Lasagne Penne Arrabiata with Smoked Sausage Crispy Gnocchi with Sausage Meatballs Sausage Ragu with Pappardelle Sausage and Pepper Pasta Creamy Sausage and Fennel Pasta Sausage Orecchiette
