Sausage Pesto Pasta

This Italian sausage pesto pasta recipe uses simple ingredients and is easy to make. Mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, garlic, and onions pack it with flavor!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian American

Keyword pesto sausage pasta, sausage pesto pasta

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Total Time 35 minutes

Servings

Calories 562kcal

Author Natasha Bull

Ingredients

8 ounces uncooked DeLallo Casarecce Pasta
10.6 ounces Italian sausages crumbled (see note)
1/2 medium onion chopped
7 ounces cremini mushrooms sliced
2 cloves garlic minced
1 cup little tomatoes (grape, cherry, etc.) cut into halves
1/2 red bell pepper chopped fairly small
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup DeLallo Simply Pesto
Salt & pepper to taste
For garnish: freshly grated parmesan cheese & chopped parsley optional

Instructions

Boil a large, salted pot of water for the casarecce pasta. Cook it al dente (8 minutes).
Meanwhile, prep your vegetables. You can do some prep while the sausages are cooking to save time, but feel free to prep everything prior to starting the sauce if that's easier for you.
Take the sausage meat out of the casings and crumble it into a deep skillet. Cook it over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until it's browned (about 5-7 minutes). Transfer to a plate.
Leave the sausage grease in the pan and then add the mushrooms and onions (if there is very little grease then add about a teaspoon of olive oil). Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms release their water and they get a nice sear and the onions brown (about 5-6 minutes).
Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
Add the tomatoes, peppers, chicken broth, and sausage to the skillet. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for around 5 minutes or until the tomatoes have started to lose their shape and the chicken broth has reduced a bit.
Add in the pesto (stir the jar first), then take the pan off the heat and ensure it's stirred in well. Add a splash of pasta water to the sauce (a couple tablespoons) prior to draining it, and then toss the drained pasta with the sauce. Season with salt & pepper as needed. Serve immediately with parmesan cheese and parsley if desired.

Notes

I used 3 sausages from a 5-pack of Italian sausages. Anything in the 10 oz. ballpark works. Feel free to use sausage meat rather than pre-packaged sausages.
If you're not serving this with a side or you've got hungry people to feed, you can definitely cook more than 2 ounces of pasta/person. I would stay under using the full pound of pasta, though, so there's enough sauce to go around.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy only and should be construed as an estimate rather than a guarantee. Ingredients can vary and Salt & Lavender makes no guarantees to the accuracy of this information.

Nutrition