Sweet & Spicy Sausage Bolognese

Guys, I have to tell you something. I don’t love cooking dinner during the week. I’m usually not home or ready to start cooking until 7:30, and really I just want to pull something homemade out of the fridge, reheat it, throw together a quick veggie or salad, and sit down to eat. But on Sundays? Give me a full Sunday to nest and cook and I am in heaven. I love spending hours in the kitchen prepping multiple dishes and meals to eat throughout the week. While making this sauce this past Sunday, I also had a homemade batch of hummus in the works, as well as an apple and cabbage slaw (a salad that only gets better in the fridge). The directions outlined below describe what to do if you’re serving the pasta right away, but you could also make the sauce ahead and add it to each plate of pasta throughout the week. I love a traditional bolognese, but this sausage one has quickly become my favorite. The seasonings in the sausage give the overall sauce such a deep (and ok, salty) flavor. You could even forego the pasta and serve it with some big slices of rustic bread. Enjoy!

More pasta recipes: A more traditional bolognese, and for non meat eaters- the best Cacio e Pepe (cheese and pepper pasta) you’ve ever had!

Sweet & Spicy Sausage Bolognese

makes enough sauce for 1lb of pasta

• olive oil
• 1 lb pasta, linguine or spaghetti preferred
• 3 links of Italian sausage (2 spicy links, 1 sweet), casings removed and sausage broken up
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 5 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 28 oz can puréed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)
• salt
• pepper
• 1 cup grated parmesan plus more for serving

Make the sauce: Set a heavy bottomed pot over medium low heat and coat with olive oil. Add in the onions and celery and let cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in the carrot, and let cook for another 10-15 minutes until the onions are translucent and vegetables are soft. Add in garlic and stir, cooking for an additional minute or two until garlic is soft and fragrant. Add in crumbled sausage, increase heat to medium, and cook stirring consistently and breaking up the sausage until it’s no longer pink. Add in white wine and cook until wine has reduced by half. Add in the puréed tomatoes, oregano, salt, and pepper. Cook for 20 minutes over medium low heat until sauce has thickened. Once done, turn off heat and stir in the heavy cream.

While the sauce is finishing, set a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta until al dente. Drain pasta, add to pot with sauce. Toss gently for 2-3 minutes, coating the noodles. Sprinkle in 1 cup of parmesan cheese and continue to toss until fully combined. Serve pasta immediately with extra cheese on the side.