Spicy Sausage Penne

Pasta is always something that reminds me of my mom.  Whether it’s her ahhh-mazing spaghetti with homemade meatballs (the secret is half beef, half spicy Italian sausage) or her spinach stuffed shells, hearty pasta covered in sauce always reminds me of her.

We were a Ragu family growing up – my mom was always using their traditional sauce.  So I was super excited to learn that those brilliant minds at Ragu have come up with a new line of sauces, their Ragu Homestyle.

These sauces are just what you think of when someone says “homestyle.”  It’s like your Italian nana was fast at work chopping fresh tomatoes and simmering them over the stove for hours.  It’s all that you want in a pasta sauce, without the time or work you need to put into one.

I was instantly drawn to the Ragu Homestyle Thick and Hearty Mushroom Sauce.  I love adding in sautéed mushrooms to my pasta, so if someone is going to do the work for me, I’ll happily oblige.  The rest was easy and you can totally have this meal done in under a hour.

I grilled up some Italian sausages – I went with spicy Italian but you could easily do a sweet or mild Italian.  I just love the kick of heat that spicy Italian sausage adds.  Once the sausage was grilled to perfect, I cut them into thick slices and set aside.

Next, I boiled pasta till just al dente, drained, added the sauce and mixed in the sausage.  And that’s pretty much it!  I topped this dish with some fresh grated Parmesan cheese because I love the strong bite of Parmesan and sprinkled a little fresh chiffonade of basil for a pop of color.

This was one of the easiest and most satisfying pasta dishes I’ve made in quite some time.  The fork tender pasta noodles were perfectly coated with the hearty mushroom pasta sauce and dotted throughout were plump rounds of spicy sausage.  It was a beautiful meal to sit down to.

ingredients