Description
“Ragu” is a term used to describe a rich, slowly cooked Italian meat sauce. It’s hearty, intensely flavorful, and, unlike a slowly simmered marinara or tomato sauce, ragu is all about the meat (or a meaty ingredient, like mushrooms!).
I learned how to cook ragu 10+ years ago, working at a fine dining Northern Italian restaurant. To this day, it’s one of my favorite things to cook! We’ve shared many ragu recipes over the years here on PWWB, and today we’re adding this Slowly Simmered Italian Sausage Ragu to the collection.
Slowly simmering Italian sausage with aromatic vegetables, fresh herbs, tomatoes, and white wine coaxes out all of its flavor, creating a succulent sauce that’s laced with fennel and spices from the sausage. Simply toss into pasta (or serve with another cozy carb like gnocchi or polenta) and it’s a decadent, comforting, and totally restaurant-worthy dinner!
To learn all about ragu, be sure to check out the blog post, above, and for alternate cooking methods, like Instant Pot or slow cooker sausage ragu, check out the Recipe Notes, below. ♡ Happy cooking!
Ingredients
Scale
for the Italian sausage ragu sauce:
- 1 ½ pounds fresh Italian sausage of choice (see Recipe Notes)
- 3 large carrots, diced
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 8 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- one 6-ounce can tomato paste
- 1 cup dry, unoaked white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
- one 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 8–10 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 dried bay leaves
- optional: 1 parmesan rind
- 2 cups chicken stock or water
- kosher salt and ground black pepper, to season
for sausage ragu pasta:
- 16 ounces rigatoni or pasta of choice
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese
- for serving, as desired: grated parmesan, finely chopped fresh herbs, etc.
Instructions
- Brown the soffritto: Add the olive oil to a Dutch oven (or large, heavy-bottomed pot with lid, at least 4-qt capacity) over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot and shimmering, add the carrots, celery, and onion. Season with 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, and stir to combine. Cook, stirring occasionally, until deeply browned and fragrant, 15-20 minutes. If the veggies begin to brown too quickly, reduce the heat to medium or medium-low. Once browned, push the soffritto mixture to the outer edges of the pot.
- Brown the Italian sausage: Add the Italian sausage to the center of the pot, such that it’s surrounded by the soffritto mixture. Reduce heat to medium. Let the sausage brown 2-3 minutes without touching it, then turn it over and brown the second side 2-3 minutes before using a wooden spoon to break it apart into bite-sized pieces. Stir to combine with the soffritto mixture.
- Add aromatics and deglaze: Add the garlic and tomato paste to the Dutch oven, stirring to coat the Italian sausage soffritto mixture. Cook 2-3 minutes, until browned and fragrant. Deglaze the pot by slowly pouring in the white wine, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits that may have formed on the bottom of the pan. Let the wine simmer until it’s almost cooked off.
- Build the Italian sausage ragu sauce: Tie the fresh herbs together using kitchen twine (or finely chop if you do not have twine), then add to the pot with the crushed tomatoes, fresh rosemary and thyme, bay leaves, parmesan rind (if using), and chicken stock or water (I start with about 1 cup of stock/water, then add more as needed as the sauce simmers). Stir to combine well.
- Simmer the Italian sausage ragu sauce: Bring the sausage ragu sauce to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low to maintain a very gentle simmer. Partially cover the pot (place the lid on the pot such that it’s just partially covered, allowing some steam to escape as the sauce simmers). Simmer the Italian sausage ragu sauce 90 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the sausage ragu sauce begins to reduce too much (losing too much of its liquid too quickly), feel free to add in a splash more broth/water and reduce the heat further. Once the sauce is simmered, remove and discard the spent herbs, bay leaves, and parmesan rind from the pot. Use At this point, you can cool and store for later use (see Recipe Notes for storage and freezing directions), or proceed with making the sausage ragu pasta (below).
Sausage Ragu Pasta:
- Boil the pasta: About 20 minutes before the Italian sausage ragu sauce is ready, begin cooking the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Once boiling, add the rigatoni and cook to al dente according to package directions, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking. Once cooked, carefully dip a liquid measuring cup into the pot to reserve about 1 cup of the starchy pasta water, and set aside. Carefully drain the pasta. (Learn more! ⇢ How to Cook Pasta Perfectly Every Single Time!)
- Finish the sausage ragu pasta: Meanwhile, as the pasta boils, bring the slowly simmered Italian sausage ragu sauce up to a simmer. Stir in the heavy cream and parmesan cheese. Add the cooked rigatoni to the pot with the sausage ragu sauce, tossing to combine. The sausage ragu should evenly coat the pasta. Add in some of the reserved pasta water if the sauce needs to loosen up a little; add in an extra handful of parmesan if it needs to tighten up a little. Cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, allowing the pasta to meld with and absorb some of the sausage ragu.
- Serve: Portion the Italian sausage ragu pasta into individual pasta bowls, topping with additional grated parmesan, chopped fresh herbs, and/or crushed red pepper as desired. Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
- Jess’ Tips and Tricks:
- Best sausage to use for Italian sausage ragu: This recipe was tested and developed using a full-fat pork Italian sausage. I love using a blend of half spicy Italian sausage and half mild/sweet Italian sausage (i.e. ¾ pound each) – I find that it creates the perfect amount of lingering heat without overwhelming the sauce. Please feel free to adjust based on your preferences and spice tolerance! If you cannot find bulk sausage, feel free to buy sausage links and cut the sausage meat out of the casing. If you prefer to use a leaner sausage, like turkey Italian sausage, plan to reduce simmer time to 20-30 minutes, tops.
- Best pasta for sausage ragu: I love serving this sausage ragu sauce with rigatoni (pictured), a tubular short pasta with ridges. The sausage ragu sauce really clings to the ridges of the pasta beautifully, while little bits of sausage get caught inside the pasta, making each bite even more flavorful! That said, you can prepare this sausage ragu using whatever pasta you love best. If you like long pasta, spaghetti, bucatini, and tagliatelle are all delicious options. For the ultimate cozy dinner, pair your sausage ragu with gnocchi or polenta.
- 10-Minute Meal Prep: Nearly all of the active prep work for this sausage ragu recipe comes from prepping the veggies. Take care of this in advance – it takes 10 minutes, tops! – and you can jump straight in to cooking during the week: dice 3 medium carrots, 1 stalk of celery, and 1 large yellow onion. Transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. (10 minutes active)
- Storage and Reheating:
- Sausage Ragu Pasta Storage and Reheating: Leftover sausage ragu pasta will keep, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, for 3-4 days. Reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop until warmed through, adding a splash of stock or water as needed to loosen up the sausage ragu sauce to your desired texture.
- Make-Ahead Italian Sausage Ragu Sauce Storage and Reheating: This sausage ragu sauce is the perfect make-ahead recipe because it stores so well – it’s one of those things that gets even better as it sits and its flavors meld together! To store, prep the sauce through Step 6 of Recipe Directions, above. Once cooled, transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat sausage ragu sauce on the stovetop. Once simmering, finish according to “Sausage Ragu Pasta” Steps 1-3 of Recipe Directions, above.
- Sausage Ragu Sauce Freezer Instructions:
- Sausage ragu is also incredibly freezer-friendly. To freeze, transfer the cooled sausage ragu sauce to a freezer container or divide between multiple freezer containers for smaller portions – Souper Cubes are my absolute favorite freezer containers! Freeze up to 3 months. To thaw, place the frozen sausage ragu in the refrigerator overnight or submerge the freezer container in room temperature water for a quicker thaw. Reheat the ragu sauce in a skillet. If the thawed ragu sauce is a little watery at first, simply allow any residual water simmer out. If the thawed ragu sauce is too thick, simply add in a splash of water or stock until your desired consistency is reached. Once simmering, finish according to “Sausage Ragu Pasta” Steps 1-3 of Recipe Directions, above.
- Alternate Cooking Methods:
- Oven Braised Sausage Ragu: Prep the sausage ragu sauce according to Steps 1-5, above. Rather than simmering on the stovetop, transfer the covered pot to a 325 degree F oven. Slowly cook in the oven for 90 minutes or until the sausage ragu sauce is thickened slightly. Finish the sausage ragu sauce as directed in Step 6 and complete the recipe according to “Sausage Ragu Pasta” Steps 1-3.
- Crock Pot / Slow Cooker Sausage Ragu: Prep the recipe according to Steps 1-4, above. Transfer the soffritto mixture to the slow cooker, along with the aromatics, tomatoes, and broth/stock (or water). Slow cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 4-5 hours, stirring occasionally. Finish the sausage ragu sauce as directed in Step 6 and complete the recipe according to “Sausage Ragu Pasta” Steps 1-3 – you can combine the sauce and pasta right in your slow cooker. If your slow cooker has a searing/browning feature, you can use it to cook the entire Italian sausage ragu sauce recipe (Steps 1-6) in the slow cooker.
- Electric Pressure Cooker / Instant Pot Sausage Ragu: Use your Instant Pot’s “Sauté” setting to cook the recipe according to Steps 1-5, above. Cover and seal the pressure cooker and cook on manual high pressure for 35 minutes. Allow the pressure cooker to naturally release pressure for 10 minutes before carefully flicking the valve to its “venting” position to vent out any residual pressure. If the ragu seems a little too liquidy, feel free to turn on the Sauté setting again, letting the sauce simmer down a little before finishing as directed in Steps 6. Complete the recipe according to “Sausage Ragu Pasta” Steps 1-3 – you can combine the sauce and pasta right in your Instant Pot.