Easy Pasta Sauce Recipe
When you’re in the mood for a quick, comforting meal, this simple pasta sauce with Italian sausage and sweet grape tomatoes will hit the spot. With just a few ingredients and minimal prep, you can have a flavorful dinner ready in no time—perfect for a busy weeknight or a laid-back family meal.
Start with your favorite pasta (the amount depends on your appetite and whether you’re sharing it with the kids), and toss it with butter for a rich base. Sweet Italian sausages bring savory depth to the dish, while the halved grape tomatoes add a pop of freshness and sweetness.
Cook everything in high-quality extra virgin olive oil to elevate the flavors, and finish with a generous sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan cheese for that irresistible touch of saltiness. Season it with a pinch of salt and pepper to taste, and you have a simple yet satisfying meal guaranteed to please.
This recipe is as versatile as it is delicious. Adjust the ingredients to suit your needs, and experiment with the proportions to suit your taste or the number of people you serve!
Sweet Italian Sausage
Sweet Italian sausage is a type of pork sausage popular in Italian-American cuisine. Its name comes from its mild, slightly sweet flavor, which comes from sweet basil and sometimes a touch of sugar or other sweet spices. Despite the name, it's not sugary but milder and more aromatic than spicier varieties like hot Italian sausage, which contains red pepper flakes.
Key ingredients in sweet Italian sausage typically include ground pork, fennel seeds (which provide a distinctive licorice-like flavor), garlic, and a blend of spices such as black pepper, parsley, and paprika. It has a savory and herbaceous taste, with the fennel being the most noticeable flavor element.
This versatile sausage can be used in various dishes, from pasta sauces to pizzas, soups, and sandwiches. When cooked, sweet Italian sausage adds a rich, flavorful boost to recipes, pairing exceptionally well with tomatoes, peppers, and onions. It’s a staple in many classic Italian-American dishes, like pasta with sausage and peppers or hearty stews.
Because it’s mild, sweet Italian sausage is a good option for family meals where you want savory depth without overpowering heat.
📖 Recipe
Simple Pasta Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- Pasta amount to be determined by your appetite and if you are feeding some to your kids with butter
- 2 sweet Italian sausages
- 10 - 12 sweet grape tomatoes cut in half
- 3 - 4 tablespoons good quality extra virgin olive oil
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese - to taste
- Salt & pepper - to taste
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to boil.
- Add a pinch of salt to the water and then your pasta. See my tips on cooking pasta.
- When the water comes to a boil, add your pasta, stir immediately and cook to al dente. Be sure to stir frequently to prevent the pasta from sticking.
- While the pasta is cooking, heat a saucepan over medium-high heat and squeeze the sausage meat out of the sausage skin into the saucepan. Break it up with a wooden spoon into bite size pieces. Brown the sausage meat until cooked through.
- Add the tomatoes and cook with sausage meat for a few minutes. Add the olive oil and stir to coat the meat and tomatoes. Season with a little salt & pepper. Cook for an additional minute or two.
- Drain the pasta and add some of it to the saucepan. It is easier to add more pasta if you have enough sauce than take it away if you don't have enough sauce. It really doesn't matter because the sausage and tomatoes are going to give the olive oil a lot of flavor and the oil should coat a decent amount of pasta.
- Serve the pasta topped with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
You are going to be surprised just how good this simple pasta dish tastes. You're going to wish you made more for leftovers.
Some of My Favorite Pasta Recipes
- Creamy Gochujang Gnocchi Recipe: A Spicy-Sweet Delight
- Cacio e Pepe Classic Recipe
- Discover the Rustic Charm of Tuscan Pici Pasta
- How to Make a Basic Orzo Salad Recipe
- This Is How to Make Spicy Ragu Sauce Over Pasta
- Cavatelli Pasta
- Cavatelli Pasta with Spring Peas and Pancetta Recipe
- Bucatini all'Amatriciana Recipe
Oswaldo
Your article on differences between olive oils would be very interesting since I haven`t found much information on it.
I have enjoyed your website for over two years. CONGRATULATIONS!
tracy famous
I would also like to read an article on olive oils.
Gail
Great post on simple, easy and quick pasta sauces. I read/enjoy your site as it’s a good bit of information from a regular home cook / chef with good skills and taste buds! LOL
If you cut up a shallot (or 2 scallions) and sautéed it, the flavor would have gone off the chart. I make sauce for one all the time, simple, last minute idea (no time to defrost my sauce stash) as my husband isn't home for dinner (executive chef; always busy working at dinnertime). I also smash open and roughly cut a clove of garlic. I cook the veggies, including the tomato, shallot or scallions, cocktail tomatoes and garlic clove in olive oil just until it breaks down; add the shrimp, chopped meat, sausage (removed from its casing) sometimes a small chicken breast or boneless thigh chopped into the just cooked veggie "base". It’s always delicious, very easy and 5-7 minutes tops - serve with any pasta. You’ll amaze yourself!
Love an article on Olive Oils...there are zillions at my local Whole Foods, Central Market upscale stores, even in the regular supermarket...
Kathryn Respess
Great blog post, I bookmarked your blog post so I can visit again in the near future, Thanks
Arnette Polian
Thanks so much for this. This might sound weird, but I spent the first few years of my life in Rome, then traveled all over the world. Now I'm living in New Zealand, with my Chinese wife, and son we had whilst living in Japan! Truly internationalized, eh? Anyway, I've been trying to rediscover the smells and tastes of my youth with some authentic Italian recipes like these, best I've found so far! Thanks again, I'll see if I can add the feed to my Google reader tonight, though my son usually does that for me!
Hey Arnette, thanks for sharing. - RG