Pasta con salsiccia is a delicious and simple pasta with sausage and tomato sauce (or sausage sugo) that makes a great quick meal and requires only a few ingredients. You only need Italian sausage, canned plum tomatoes, fresh garlic and your favorite pasta. This is a great meal to add to your weekday meal list and one that everyone will love.

Pasta con salsiccia means pasta with sausage in Italian. There are many different recipes with pasta and Italian sausage but our favorite is this sausage sugo version.
Sugo in Italian just means sauce and in this instance, a quick and fresh tomato sauce. The sausage and fresh garlic that is added is all the flavor you will need to pull off an amazing and easy Italian dinner. Trust me!
You can serve this with a side garlic ciabatta bread if you want something to dip in the extra sauce. We are big fans of dipping bread in sauce 🙂
Ingredients needed
There are only a few ingredients you are going to need for this pasta and sausage recipe:
- Italian sausage. I use a mild Italian sausage for this recipe but you can use sweet or hot Italian sausage as well.
- Rigatoni pasta. You want to use a pasta shape like rigatoni or penne for pasta con salsiccia recipes because you can get a little pasta and sausage in each bite.
- Fresh garlic. When making the sausage sugo, this is not the time for granulated garlic. Make sure to only use fresh.
- Canned plum tomatoes. If you can find San Marzano tomatoes, try to use those. If not, any canned plum tomatoes will work.
That is it. Not many ingredients at all but a lot of great flavor since we are using all very flavorful ingredients here.

How to make pasta con salsiccia (sausage sugo)
Making this pasta con salsiccia is so simple. It is quick to make and comes together in no time. Perfect for a weeknight Italian dinner!

- Brown the sausage very well in a large saute pan. You want that sausage to get a bit crispy and leave some browning behind in the pan because that is going to add to the flavor of the sugo sauce.
- Add the fresh garlic to the Italian sausage and cook down for a few minutes.
- Now add the canned plum tomatoes and gently break them up and mix well with the sausage.
- Season with kosher salt and let simmer for about 15 minutes.
That is it! This is all it takes to make this sausage sugo. While the sauce is simmering, you can start on cooking your pasta.
Once the pasta is ready, the sausage sugo is ready too.
TIP: To get the most flavor our of your sausage, make sure to brown the sausage until it is crisp on the edges. That browning will add flavor to the tomatoes when they are added to the sausage.

Pairing Ideas
Here are some of our favorite things to serve with this Pasta con Salsiccia:
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Pasta con Salsiccia - Sausage Sugo
Ingredients
- 4 Italian sausage links casings removed.
- 1 lb Rigatoni pasta
- 28 ounces Canned plum tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Fresh garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon Olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt plus more to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
- In a large saute pan, add olive oil and brown the sausage very well. You want that sausage to get a bit crispy and leave some browning behind in the pan.1 tablespoon Olive oil, 4 Italian sausage links
- Now add the fresh garlic to the Italian sausage and cook down for a few minutes.1 tablespoon Fresh garlic
- Next add the canned plum tomatoes and gently break them up and mix well with the sausage.28 ounces Canned plum tomatoes
- Season with kosher salt .1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- Let sauce simmer for about 15 minutes on low heat.
- By now, your pot of water should be boiling so go ahead and add the pasta to the pot along with a good pinch of salt and cook until al dente.1 lb Rigatoni pasta
- Drain pasta and add to the sausage sauce.
- Toss well for 1 minute.
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
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