Whether you’re looking for a special meal that isn’t too complicated, or a weeknight dinner with a little pizzazz, Italian sausage pasta is the way to go.
This Italian sausage pasta sauce is slightly adapted from a favorite restaurant-style pasta sauce recipe on AllRecipes.com. It’s quite simple to make, but boasts full flavor from the use of Italian-style tomatoes, tomato paste, merlot, and rich Italian sausage. Unlike similar recipes, where the sausage is browned first, this recipe simmers the sausage in the sauce with all of the other ingredients. It’s delicious atop any type of pasta, and even on spaghetti squash.
Special Diet Notes: Restaurant-Style Pasta Sauce
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, peanut-free, and soy-free. It’s also optionally paleo-friendly.
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (28-ounce) can Italian-style tomatoes, crushed with your hands
- 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
- 1 cup merlot wine (see Wine Note below)
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic until tender and fragrant.
- Stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and wine.
- Bring the sauce to a boil over medium-high heat.
- Reduce heat to low, stir in the sausage and simmer until the sausage is thoroughly cooked.
- Serve over pasta with a side salad, and a glass of merlot!