Hey! I'm Des!
Welcome to Life’s Ambrosia where Dinner is served and memories are made. Here you will find over 1000 tried and true recipes for every possible occasion. In the last 10 years, this blog has helped millions of families put dinner on the table and create food memories. Let me help you too.
Creamy Tomato Penne with Italian Sausage
It is no secret that I love Italian food, pasta especially, so Ryan and I frequent a few Italian restaurants around town. This recipe was inspired by a dish we had at our favorite restaurant. I made a traditional tomato sauce with Italian sausage, onions and garlic. To make it creamy I added some mascarpone cheese 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 you will want to adjust your salt accordingly.
Creamy Tomato Penne with Italian Sausage
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage
- 1/2 medium onion diced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 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
Instructions
- In a large skillet, brown Italian sausage over medium heat. Remove to colander to strain the grease.
- In the same skillet, add onion and garlic. Cook 3 minutes or until onion has softened.
- Add tomatoes and oregano to the skillet. Return sausage to the skillet. Cook over medium heat while you prepare your pasta.
- Meanwhile, start your pasta. Cook pasta according to package directions. Strain.
- Stir mascarpone cheese into tomato sauce. Once the cheese has melted, stir in penne pasta. Toss to coat.
- Gently chop basil and sprinkle it over the pasta. Serve hot.
Notes
Hey! I'm Des!
Welcome to Life’s Ambrosia where Dinner is served and memories are made. Here you will find over 1000 tried and true recipes for every possible occasion. In the last 10 years, this blog has helped millions of families put dinner on the table and create food memories. Let me help you too.
omobolanle balogun
June 5, 2013 at 7:17 pmIts look delicious,I can’t wait to try it at home.thanks girl friend.
Theresa
May 28, 2009 at 12:37 pmI finally got around to making this a couple of nights ago for dinner. It was really good! I’ll probably make it again sometime. I love the marscapone!
Deseree
May 28, 2009 at 2:10 pmThanks Theresa! I am glad that you enjoyed it!
Jennifer
April 28, 2009 at 8:51 amthis was super yummy – a hit at our girls night.. we used gr turkey since there was no gr sausage at TJ’s.. added some italian seasoning to the meat to make up for no sausage and it was yummy
Deseree
April 28, 2009 at 2:17 pmYay! I am glad you liked it. The use of ground turkey sounds like a great idea. :)
Deseree
April 8, 2009 at 7:06 pmLet me know how it goes The Craving Chronicles! I hope you enjoy it as much as we did :)
Thanks Sara, it was delicious in the sauce!
Sara
April 8, 2009 at 6:31 pmMascarpone sounds great in the pasta sauce!
The Craving Chronicles
April 8, 2009 at 7:06 amYum! I think I’m going to make this for dinner next week. I love that it doesn’t use heavy cream for the sauce!
Deseree
April 7, 2009 at 2:54 pmThanks Cassie, it added the perfect creamy touch. :)
Thanks Ninette!
Ninette
April 7, 2009 at 11:45 amI wish I had a fork so I could grab some penne right out of the photo. Looks delicious!
Cassie
April 7, 2009 at 10:10 amI love the addition of mascarpone.