"Date Me" Creamy Sausage Rigatoni Pasta
Homemade rich and creamy tomato cream and sausage sauce tossed with rigatoni and topped with parmesan cheese. The best creamy sausage rigatoni pasta!
My Mom always taught me this simple phrase, "a way to a man's heart is through his stomach."
When I was dating Dean, one of my favorite things to do was to cook a full-course meal and set the table. He would get so excited over a simple home-cooked meal because he basically lived off of ramen and canned Chef Boyardee. He would thank me over and over again for a simple meal and would be so appreciative. I started to realize that what my Mom taught me from a young age was true -- food was the way to a man's heart!
Dean and I will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary this year! We have been together for almost 27 years though so I have fed him a lot of meals in our days together. One of his all-time favorite meals is a big bowl of creamy sausage rigatoni pasta with a lot of sauce. The extra sauce is crucial since pasta soaks it up!
This rigatoni pasta recipe makes a lot of pasta and makes the best leftovers. You can feed a lot of mouths for a fraction of the cost of one serving at a restaurant. Plus you are making the sauce from scratch so it always feels good to know what ingredients are going into your dinner!
This "Date Me" Pasta starts off with a robust tomato sauce by sauteing onions and garlic in extra-virgin olive oil. This is the base of the sauce and I always like to take the extra time to soften the onions to bring out their sweetness and get rid of any bitterness. Then you add in the Italian sausage. You can buy any type -- mild, hot, or sweet Italian sausage. Take the time to brown the sausage to bring out the flavor.
Then you add in the canned tomatoes. You can use crushed tomatoes and add them straight to the sauce or if you are using canned whole peeled tomatoes, whip them up in a blender before adding them to the pan. Add in fresh or dried herbs, a generous amount of salt and pepper, and red chili flakes for some subtle heat to keep things interesting.
Once the sauce is bubbling and starting to reduce, add in heavy cream and parmesan cheese. This is what adds some creamy richness to the sauce. If time is on your side, let it simmer on low heat to really bring out the flavors of the herbs, onions, garlic, and tomatoes.
While the sauce is simmering, heat a pot of water over high heat until boiling. You want to generously salt the water as this helps to infuse the pasta with flavor. This is one of the most important tips in order for the pasta to have flavor on its own. I suggest using rigatoni pasta since it pairs perfectly with a robust sausage sauce.
Cook according to package instructions. Some of you may like to cook it al dente so it has a little bite and some like their pasta to be on the softer side. My kids prefer it on the softer side so I cook it about 1 minute longer than the package instructions but you do you! 🙂
When ready to serve it, toss the pasta with the sauce. It will be nice and saucy! Don't worry -- the pasta will soak up all of the sauce in no time at all. Serve with extra parm and fresh basil. Watch for your people coming back for seconds! They are going to love this bowl of comfort food. Oh, and by the end of the night, you may just have someone asking for you to "date them" after serving them this pasta. Just go check out my Marry Me Chicken recipe. You won't believe how many proposals have happened because of one chicken dish!
"Date Me" Creamy Sausage Rigatoni Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 large Onion (diced)
- 4 Garlic Cloves (minced)
- 1 1/2 lbs. Italian Sausage (may use 1 lb. if you want less sausage)
- (2) 28-ounce cans Whole or Crushed Tomatoes
- 1/4 cup Fresh Basil, chopped (or 1 Tablespoon dried basil)
- 1/4 cup Fresh Oregano, chopped (or 1 Tablespoon dried oregano)
- 1 teaspoon Red Chili Flakes
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 1 teaspoon Pepper
- 1 1/2 cups Heavy Cream
- 1 1/2 cups Grated Parmesan Cheese
- 1 lb. Rigatoni Pasta
Instructions
- Heat a large pot over medium heat. Add oil. Add onions and cook for 7-8 minutes until softened. Add garlic cloves and sausage. Cook for 7-8 minutes more until sausage begins to brown.
- Fill a large pot with water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add a generous amount of salt to the water to infuse the pasta with flavor. Add pasta and cook according to package instructions.
- Add tomatoes. If using whole tomatoes, blend in a blender until smooth. Add fresh basil, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Let it come to a boil and reduce.
- Stir in heavy cream and 1 cup of parmesan cheese, reserving 1/2 cup for garnish. Reduce heat to medium-low and let it simmer.
- Drain the pasta and add to the sauce. If you want it to be less "saucy" let the sauce simmer for 10 minutes longer.
- Taste for seasonings. Serve with remaining 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese and fresh basil.
Donna A Pollock
Oh MY, Oh My, Well Melissa, you have did it again. What a great recipe. My boys are crazy about pasta, and sausage. When I make sauce, I make plenty and freeze some in a zip lock bag, so next time I'm in a big hurry I have some sauce on hand, which tastes way better than it dose the first time around. I made your Panna Cotta recipe and my goodness sake, these guys tore it up, me too!!!!!! I loved it. Thank you so much for the great recipes.
William C.
After making this for my wife, she confirms that she will continue to date me. Yes! Best possible outcome. I like my pasta saucy and indulgent, and this certainly fits that description. With such a considerable amount of sausage, the sauce is practically a meal on its own. 6-year-old gobbled it up too! Definitely a make-again.
Sheldon T.
one of the best pasta recipes i've had! i think next time i'll substitute the sausage for chicken and add some broccoli as well but i wouldn't change a single thing about any other part of the recipe. it makes a lot of leftovers as well so we'll be eating for a while!
Jayne B.
Oh my gosh! This was amazing!! I mixed hot and mild sausage and followed your recipe. My husband was skeptical about a sauce with cream, but he cleaned his plate twice! This will be a staple dinner for us! Thank you for your wonderful recipes. We’ve made several of your cakes and cookies as well. You’re a hit in our home!
Laura S.
Wonderful!! Used ziti because that was all I had but it came out absolutely delicious. Very saucy and indulgent. Perfect amount of spice. My kids thought it was a little too spicy but it was perfect for the grown ups. It’s a lot of sauce but I’m seriously looking forward to the leftovers!
Megan J.
I've made this twice now, and it's the perfect comfort food. I tweaked the recipe slightly, I melted a cup of mozzarella into the sauce to give it a more gooey, mac-n-cheese vibe and it was amazing. This has definitely been added to the meal rotation!
Carol
Fantastic dish!
Janet
Do you think I could leave out the heavy cream - a lot of fussy eaters here!! Thank you. Can't wait to try.
Mary Young
So good! We added a smidge less Red Pepper Flakes than called for. But this one is a keeper! The family loved it!
Karla
I made this to bring to my sister and her husband new house feed a hungry crowd that helped them move all day, everyone loved it. I made 20 servings and it went fast.
Melissa, I really appreciate you. I have made many of your recipes and they are always excellent.
Samantha Moran
Just made this recipe for my husband and he loved it. He’s a very picky eater and doesn’t like to try to branch out but loved it
Elizabeth
Your recipe calls for Italian sausage. Do you mean whole sausages, sliced sausage, or just the sausage meat without the casings? I'm new to cooking, so I'm not sure.
Thank you.
Modern Honey
Hi Elizabeth! You can find Italian Sausage where you find the ground beef. I will usually reach for the ground sausage in a package. Johnsonville has some good sausage. You can also grab it from the butcher. If you get it with casings, just remove the casings, before cooking it.
Cathie Anderson
I have made this several times just as the recipe states, and I always get rave reviews. Last time I made for a friend, who is incapacitated, and her family. She said they loved it, and her brother said it was better than anything from their favorite local Italian restaurant. Wow! What a compliment! Thank you, once again, Melissa, for an outstanding recipe!
STEPHANIE
My "I don't eat leftovers" husband asked me if we had any more of this dish so he could have it for dinner again. Um, WHAT?! He has NEVER asked for leftovers, needless to say this is now going to be a staple in my rotation and I thank you so much for this amazing meal!