Sausage Pasta Ragu {Serious Comfort Food}

Comfort Food Alert: You're going to LOVE this Sausage Pasta Ragu Recipe. It's relaxing to make, delicious and the kids go crazy for it!

Sausage Pasta Ragu

This easy Sausage Pasta Ragu is an easy meal. There's a little prep but it's not hard work, and the vast majority of the time is spent allowing the Ragu to slowly simmer and fill your house with a pretty appetising aroma! For those of us that love a full of flavor slow cooked pasta dinner, this is a dream!

There's quite a bit of debate around sausages and Clean eating. I mean, they're not unprocessed and many of them are made with a high percentage of ingredients I wouldn't want to be giving the kids. That said, there are sausages that are as Clean as they're going to get and so I hunt these ones down, and we do eat them.

The kids love sausages and they're an affordable ingredient, so I'm happy with high quality sausages, usually from our local farm shop. Have a look in your area and just read the ingredients list. You want to know the percentage of meat, and it should be high! If there's so many ingredients you're there for ages, look for other sausages!

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More Pasta Recipes

• Slow cooked lamb Ragu
• Quick ham and mushroom pasta
• Lemon spaghetti with chicken
• Mushroom and mozzarella bake
• Clean eating Marinara sauce
• Clean eating Bolognese sauce

What Makes A Ragu A Ragu?

A Ragu is thicker than a regular pasta sauce. It becomes main part of the dinner despite having pasta, rather than a Marinara sauce that simply coats the pasta, although still yummy and super kid friendly.

I haven't added any red wine to this Ragu, but you absolutely could for a richer flavor, simply replace the water added with red wine. In the interests of keeping things simple I've used water, but along with red wine you could also use a beef stock, or even milk, which adds a creamier twist. If you're going to use milk, heat it through slightly before adding it to the pan.

Sausage Ragu Ingredients

This Sausage ragù uses simple everyday ingredients:

Pork Sausages

The sausages I've are pork sausages, although you can use any good quality sausages you can find: Turkey sausages, Italian sausages etc...The type of sausages you use will of course alter the flavor and taste slightly, but use which ever you have and you know the kids like :)

You can even use ground pork if you really can't find sausages or just prefer to use the ground meat.

Chopped Tomatoes And Tomato Paste

The tomatoes you use make up the base of the sauce. I buy tinned tomatoes labelled as 'finely chopped' and while they're not a tomato puree, they don't have the larger 'lumps' of tomatoes that the kids will often pick out! You can also get crushed tomatoes in tins, these are another one I use occasionally.

Substitutions

Feel free to make any substitutions you think your lot will eat! You might replace the celery with carrot, add in some fresh basil or add some fresh rosemary sprigs on top to serve it. There's no hard and fast rules as long as you keep the tomato base the same.

The Best Pasta For A Ragu

I buy wholewheat pasta, either fresh or dried and this does limit the type of pasta available to you. I was able to find a Rigatoni pasta (and it's a rare find!) but usually I'd use pasta shells with this Ragu. You really want a pasta that the Ragu can 'get into', Rigatoni pasta is the thicker 'tubes' and so the Ragu sits inside the pasta, but shells work the same way.

Leftovers

You can keep leftovers in the fridge, covered with food wrap for up to 2 days. To reheat this Ragu, and it makes an awesome next day lunch, simply pop it into the microwave, covered, for a couple of minutes until it's heated all the way through. You might want to stir it half way though reheating. And some night say it's better the next day....

How To Make Sausage Pasta Ragu

Ingredients

• Pasta Enough for 4 people
• 6 Sausages Skin removed
• 1 Can Chopped tomatoes I used finely chopped tomatoes
• 1 Medium Onion Peeled and diced
• 1 Stick Celery Diced into tiny cubes
• 2 tbsp Tomato paste
• 1 tsp Garlic paste
• 1 knob Butter For sweating the onion
• 1 tsp Salt To cook the pasta
• ½ tsp Rosemary Dried, or you can also use dried Oregano
• Black pepper To season the Ragu
• Salt To season the Ragu

Instructions

• In a pan, add half of the butter and melt. it over a very low heat. Add the onions and celery and sweat them, making sure not to let them burn or crisp at all. Near the end, add the Garlic paste and combine. When they're all cooked though, transfer them to a plate and put to one side
• Add the rest of the butter to the same pan and turn the heat up to a medium heat. Add the skinless sausages and use a wooden spoon to break them up into small pieces. Allow the sausage meat to cook through and catch a little on the pan. The bits that catch add to the overall flavor
• When the sausage meat is cooked, add the veggies back into the pan and turn the heat back to low. Stir though the tomato paste. Add the Rosemary and combine
• Add the chopped tomatoes, and then fill the empty can a third full with water and add to the pan. Stir everything together well. Season with a pinch of salt and black pepper
• Simmer the Ragu for an hour on a low heat, stirring occasionally
• Fill a large pan with water, add the salt and bring to the boil
• Add the pasta and cook to your liking
• Drain the pasta put it back into the pan
• Add the Ragu and stir through
• Serve. We like this with some grated Parmesan cheese on top!

Sausage Pasta Ragu Recipe