Spicy Italian Sausage Pasta Recipe from Calabria in Southern Italy

5 from 3 votes

Spicy Italian Sausage Pasta Recipe from Calabria in Southern Italy

This spicy Italian sausage pasta recipe comes from Calabria in Southern Italy where the rich, spicy, tomato-based sauce is made with the famously fiery Calabrian pork sausage called ’nduja. We use a skinless spicy Italian pork sausage and purple shallots, but you can certainly use ’nduja and Tropea red onions if you can source them.

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Total Time40

Course: First Course, Main Course, Pasta Course

Cuisine: Italian, Southern Italian

Servings:

Calories: 908kcal

Author: Lara Dunston

Equipment

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
100 g shallots or red onion or Tropea red onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves pounded in a mortar and pestle to crush, but keep whole
150 g skinless spicy Italian sausages or sausage meat removed from casings, chopped into small pieces; Calabrian 'nduja is even better if you can get it
2 tbsp tomato paste
400 g can crushed tomatoes or a can of whole Italian tomatoes crushed
1 tsp chilli flakes or chilli powder
1 tsp sugar optional, but important for balance
1 tsp salt or to taste
1 tsp ground black pepper or to taste
200 g rigatoni or penne or another tubular pasta
2 tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano grated
2 tbsp flat leaf parsley roughly chopped

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large pan, skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the finely diced purple shallots or red onion and pounded garlic cloves and fry for a few minutes until the onions are soft and translucent and garlic fragrant. Reduce the heat to medium.
Transfer the chopped sausage meat to the pan or wok, use a wooden spoon or fork to further break down half of the sausage meat, increase the heat and fry for around 5 minutes or so until cooked through, then reduce the heat again.
Add two tablespoons of tomato paste, combine well with the sausage meat, add the crushed tomatoes and a teaspoon each of chilli flakes (or chilli powder if you prefer), sugar, salt, and ground black pepper, and stir to incorporate. Increase the heat to high for 10 minutes to allow the sauce to reduce, stirring occasionally.
Put a big pot of water on the stove, bring to a boil, add a pinch of salt, slide the pasta into the pot, and put the lid on. Set a timer according to the packet instructions to cook the pasta until a couple of minutes before it reaches al dente, probably around 10 minutes. When the water begins to bubble over, remove the lid.
While the pasta is cooking, return to the spicy sausage sauce: reduce the heat and cook on low for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Toward the end, remove the garlic cloves, taste the sauce, and add more seasoning if needed to suit your palate – it should be well-balanced and be spicy, salty, sweet, and peppery.
When the pasta is almost al dente, use a slotted spoon to scoop the pasta out and transfer it to the sauce, stirring gently so the pasta fills the sausage sauce, and cook for another couple of minutes.
Divide between plates, drizzle on a little extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle on some grated Parmigiano Reggiano, and serve immediately with and chopped flat leaf parsley.

Notes

Our recipe calls for purple shallots or red onions, but if you can source them, do use red Tropea onions as they do in Southern Italy.
Likewise, our recipe recommends skinless spicy Italian sausages or sausage meat removed its casings, but do use Calabrian ’nduja if you can find it. Note that ’nduja is very spicy, so you’ll only need half the amount suggested.
In Calabria, large rigatoni is typically used for this pasta so the sausage sauce fills the tubes, but you could use penne or another tubular pasta.
Make sure to only cook the pasta until a couple of minutes before it reaches al dente, according to the pasta instructions, as it will keep cooking after you transfer it to the sausage sauce and if you over-cook it the tubes will break apart.

Nutrition