authentic Italian sausage sauce recipe

Learn how to make authentic Italian sausage sauce—a rich tomato-based ragù flavored with red wine, bay leaves, cloves, and cinnamon. A traditional pasta sauce from Northern Italy.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF RAGÙ

When people think of Italian ragù, they usually imagine Bologna.

But Italy has dozens of regional meat sauces.

Some are made with beef.

Others with pork.

Others still with duck, rabbit, wild boar, or even chicken.

This sausage ragù belongs to that rich family of regional sauces.

Instead of minced meat, it uses pieces of Italian sausage that slowly simmer in tomato passata until the sauce becomes rich, fragrant, and deeply comforting.

Italian sausage sauce on tagliatelle pasta

THE SECRET IS IN THE SPICES

One detail often surprises people.

Cinnamon.

Cloves.

Bay leaves.

These aren’t ingredients you immediately associate with pasta.

Yet in several traditional Italian meat sauces they’re used with remarkable restraint.

Not to make the sauce taste sweet.

Not to make it spicy.

Simply to soften the richness of the pork and add aromatic depth.

The result is subtle. Most people couldn’t even identify the spices—they would simply describe the sauce as incredibly flavorful.

Like so many Italian recipes, there isn’t just one way to make it. Every family has its own version. Some cooks leave the sausages whole and slice them before serving, others crumble the meat into the sauce, while many—my family included—prefer generous chunks that become wonderfully tender during the long simmer.

Italian sausage sauce poured over tagliatelle pasta

HOW TO SERVE IT

Fresh egg pasta is the classic companion.

Tagliatelle and pappardelle are perfect because their rough surface captures every bit of sauce.

But this ragù is equally delicious over creamy polenta, layered inside lasagna, or spooned onto toasted country bread as an appetizer.

It’s one of those sauces that makes almost everything better.

HOW TO MAKE ITALIAN SAUSAGE SAUCE

The process is beautifully uncomplicated.

Brown the onion.

Brown the sausage.

Deglaze with red wine.

Add the tomato passata and the spices.

Then simply let time do the rest.

As with many Italian sauces, patience is one of the main ingredients.

Print

authentic Italian sausage sauce

Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 2
Author Claudia Rinaldi | Gourmet Project

Ingredients

  • 6 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 Italian sausages
  • 1 white or yellow onion
  • 1 glass red wine
  • 21 oz tomato paste (passata) - 600 gr
  • 8 cloves
  • 1/2 cinnamon stick
  • 4 bay leaves

Instructions

  1. Coarsely chop the onion.
  2. Heat olive oil in a large pot and brown the onion over medium heat, about 10 minutes.
  3. Slice the sausages into medium/big chunks and add them to the pot. Brown them a couple of minutes, stirring to brown all sides.
  4. Add wine, a teaspoon of salt, and a few grinds of pepper.
  5. When the wine has evaporated (alcohol smell gone), add the passata and the spices.

  6. Cover, lower heat to low/medium, and cook 25 minutes.

Enjoy your sausage sauce!

Claudia