What we love about fennel sausage pasta
- Fennel sausage pasta at the top of our list for comfort foods. This hearty combination of sausage and pasta, smothered in a robust tomato sauce, creates a heartwarming and satisfying dish that everyone will love.
- This recipe is relatively easy to prepare, making it a great option for busy weeknights when you just want a quick, cozy and comforting meal.
Here’s what you’ll need to make it
**This post contains affiliate links. We may earn commission from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you. We will never recommend a product I don’t use or trust.**
Kitchen tools
Buy Now → 
Buy Now → 
Buy Now → Ingredients you might need to pick up
- Italian sausage – Italian sausages come in a few different varieties. You can go with whatever you prefer, we chose mild but if you love fennel go with a sweet sausage as it will have a bit more fennel seed flavor to it.
- Fennel
- Half and half – You can use heavy cream if you prefer but we chose half and half to keep it a little lighter.
- Fire roasted diced tomatoes – You can use a regular diced tomato, we just love the additional smoky, rich flavor the fire roasted tomatoes add to the dish.
Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions listed below are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.
How to make this sausage fennel pasta
Cook pasta. Cook rigatoni, or pasta of your choice, according to package directions to al denté. Reserve ½ cup of pasta water, drain and set aside.
Saute fennel. Add fennel, onion, garlic, hot peppers and crushed fennel seeds to a large skillet over medium high heat. Cook until fennel and onions have become translucent.
Brown the sausage. Once the fennel and onions have become tender, add loose Italian sausage to the skillet, breaking it up into bite sized pieces as the sausage browns.
Make the sauce. Stir tomatoes, wine and half and half into the skillet with the aromatics and sausage.
Stir it all together. Add cooked pasta and fresh parsley to the skillet and stir until well combined. Adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Garnish and serve.
Everything you need to know about fennel sausage pasta
Is fennel sausage the same as Italian sausage?
Sweet Italian sausage is the same as fennel sausage. Most all Italian sausage varieties will include some amount of fennel seasoning but a mild Italian sausage variation will have less fennel seeds in the recipe that a sweet or fennel sausage.
Is fennel sausage spicy?
Traditionally sausage with fennel is considered to be a mild sausage, it doesn’t include red chili pepper flakes or cayenne pepper in a quantity to make it be considered spicy, fiery hot. However, it is heavily spiced with anise or a black licorice flavor.
More rigatoni recipes you will love
Other sausage pasta recipes you should try
Want more pasta recipes?
Subscribe to get the latest recipes delivered to your inbox!
Fennel Sausage Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 16- ounce package rigatoni
- 1 bulb fennel (thinly sliced)
- 1/2 onion (diced)
- 1 pound Italian sausage (sweet, mild or spicy, casings removed)
- 2 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds (crushed)
- 1 14.5- ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes (with juice)
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup half & half
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- Grated pecorino or parmesan cheese (for serving)
Instructions
- In a large pot of salted water, cook pasta to al denté following package instructions. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water, drain and set aside.
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil and sauté fennel, onion, garlic and crushed red pepper flakes and crushed fennel seeds.
- When fennel and onions have become translucent, add Italian sausage and cook until browned.
- Stir in tomatoes, white wine and the half and half then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes.
- Add cooked pasta and fresh parsley, stirring until well combined.
- Garnish with grated pecorino romano and serve.
Nutrition
4 Comments