Spicy Sausage Pasta (One-Pot Recipe)

This Spicy Sausage Pasta recipe is all made in one-pot for easy clean up and is a comforting, filling dinner. The rigatoni pasta cooks right in the spicy Italian sausage sauce made with crushed tomatoes and pesto.

A big pot of pasta is such a crowd pleasing dinner! If you want to stretch this pasta recipe even further, try serving it with air fryer garlic bread, garlic no knead bread, or mini cheesy monkey bread.

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• ⭐Why I Love It:
• 🥘Ingredients Needed:
• 🔪Step by Step Instructions:
• 💭Recipe Tips
• 👩‍🍳Recipe FAQs
• 🍝Related Pasta Recipes...
• Recipe
• Reviews

⭐Why I Love It:

• One-Pot Recipe - By cooking the pasta noodles in the sauce itself not only do we save on cleanup but we're also left with a more flavorful pasta. Win-win!
• Ready in less than an Hour - A super filling, large pot of baked pasta is ready to feed a crowd in under an hour.

🥘Ingredients Needed:

• Spicy Italian Sausage - If you don't like spicy, go ahead and use mild Italian sausage. I used pork, but you could sub chicken sausage if you prefer. You can either use bulk sausage or take the casing off the links.
• Onion and Garlic -
• Canned Crushed Tomatoes - Two big 28oz cans.
• Water - This is needed for more liquid for the pasta to be cooked in the sauce.
• Pesto - We not only stir some of the pesto into the sauce, but we also drizzle some on top with the shredded cheese before baking.
• Rigatoni Pasta - You can substitute penne or farfalle as well. Also try making this rigatoni al forno or Spicy Vodka Rigatoni.
• Shredded Kale - Kale holds its shape better than spinach so the sauce has a little extra texture, but trust me, even kale skeptics won't care that it's there. Also try this Sausage Kale Potato Soup.
• Shredded Mozzarella Cheese - Sprinkle this on top before baking! You can substitute a different melting cheese.
• Italian Seasoning 
• Crushed Red Pepper Flakes - Optional, for extra heat.

🔪Step by Step Instructions:

This comforting and filling spicy sausage pasta recipe is ready start to finish in under an hour!

1. Prep - Start by preheating the oven and prepping the ingredients.
2. Cook Sausage - In a very large pot, oven safe is preferred, heat the oil over medium heat and cook the onions until softened, then add the sausage and cook, while crumbling.
3. Add Aromatics - Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes (if using) and cook until garlic is fragrant. 
4. Add Pasta - Add the crushed tomatoes, water, kale, ½ cup of the pesto, and the pasta. Add a heavy pinch of salt and pepper to taste. Stir together.
5. Cook Pasta - Bring to a simmer/gentle boil (you may need to increase the heat to medium-high). Stir occasionally (carefully!) to keep the pasta from sticking to the bottom. Cook until pasta is just al dente.
6. Prep for Baking - Remove from heat. If you're not using an oven safe pot, transfer to a baking dish. Drizzle remaining ¼ cup of pesto on top of the pasta and top with the shredded cheese.
7. Bake - Bake in preheated oven until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and starting to brown. Sprinkle with fresh, chopped parsley. Allow to cool slightly and enjoy!

💭Recipe Tips

• Stir Occasionally - Because the pasta is going to soak up all the liquid, it's important to stir the pasta while cooking to keep things from sticking to the bottom.
• Adjust Spice - If you want this recipe to be more mild, you can use sweet Italian sausage and omit the pepper flakes.

👩‍🍳Recipe FAQs

🍝Related Pasta Recipes...

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