Best Italian Sausage Recipes

ITALIAN SAUSAGE, PEPPERS, AND ONIONS

Steps:

• Place the sausage in a large skillet over medium heat, and brown on all sides. Remove from skillet, and slice.
• Melt butter in the skillet. Stir in the yellow onion, red onion, and garlic, and cook 2 to 3 minutes. Mix in red bell pepper and green bell pepper. Season with basil, and oregano. Stir in white wine. Continue to cook and stir until peppers and onions are tender.
• Return sausage slices to skillet with the vegetables. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 15 minutes, or until sausage is heated through.

BAKED PENNE WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
• Heat oil in a large, deep skillet. Place sausage and onion in the skillet and cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain excess fat. Pour in wine, and cook for 1 minute, stirring, to deglaze the pan. Stir in tomato sauce, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Toss with cooked pasta, and place in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle top with mozzarella.
• Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

GRILLED ITALIAN SAUSAGE WITH PEPPERS AND ONIONS

Steps:

• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat and lightly oil the grate.
• Combine bell peppers and onions in a large bowl. Add olive oil, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. Using a toothpick, poke 4 holes into each sausage to prevent them from exploding on the grill.
• Place vegetables in a grill basket and cook for 2 minutes. Add sausage directly to the grate and grill for 4 minutes. Flip sausage over, stir vegetables, and grill for 4 minutes more.

HOMEMADE SWEET ITALIAN SAUSAGE (MILD OR HOT)

Steps:

• Place the pork and red wine vinegar in a mixing bowl. Sprinkle with salt, black pepper, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, basil, paprika, red pepper flakes, fennel seed, brown sugar, oregano, and thyme. Knead until flecks of spice are evenly distributed through the sausage.
• Divide the sausage into thirds, and form into 3 logs; wrap each in plastic wrap. Place wrapped sausage into a freezer bag before freezing, or store in refrigerator for at least 12 hours before cooking.

CREAMY ITALIAN SAUSAGE PASTA

Steps:

• Cook pasta according to package direction. In a large skillet, cook sausage in oil and butter over medium heat for 5 minutes. Add red pepper and onion; cook and stir until vegetables are tender and sausage is no longer pink. add wine or broth; cook for 2 minutes. Add the cream, cheese, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. reduce heat; cook over low heat for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally., Drain pasta. In a large bowl, combine sausage mixture and pasta. Before serving, sprinkle with parsley.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND BREAD STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Generously butter baking dish.
• Put bread in 2 shallow baking pans and bake, switching position of pans halfway through baking, until just dried out, about 10 minutes.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then cook half of sausage, stirring and breaking it into small pieces, until golden brown, about 6 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a large bowl. Brown remaining sausage in remaining tablespoon oil, transferring to bowl.
• Pour off fat from skillet and wipe clean. Heat butter over medium heat until foam subsides, then cook onions, celery, garlic, and ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper, stirring occasionally, until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Add vegetables and bread to sausage.
• Whisk together eggs, ½ cup cream, turkey stock, cheese, and parsley, then stir into stuffing and cool completely, about 30 minutes. Reserve 5 cups stuffing to stuff turkey and spoon remainder into baking dish, then drizzle with remaining ¼ cup cream. Cover stuffing and chill.
• About 1 hour before stuffed turkey is finished roasting, bring dish of stuffing to room temperature. When turkey is done, increase oven temperature to 425°F and bake stuffing, covered tightly with foil, until hot throughout, about 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake until top is golden and crisp, about 15 minutes more.
• Cooks' Note: Bread can be toasted 3 days ahead and kept (once cool) in a sealed bag at room temperature. Stuffing can be prepared (but not baked) 4 hours before roasting turkey. If baking stuffing at the same time as potatoes, put stuffing in upper third of oven and potatoes in bottom third (allow extra time).

HOMEMADE ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Cut pork shoulder into cubes. Place in a bowl and refrigerate while preparing the other ingredients.
• Grind garlic with a pinch of salt in a mortar to make a paste. Add fennel, anise, and black pepper. Bruise spices lightly with a pestle to release the flavors. Add red pepper flakes, cayenne pepper, oregano, marjoram, coriander, mustard, allspice, sugar, and a splash of water. Stir to combine.
• Add the spice paste to the pork cubes. Mix thoroughly by hand. Add the remaining salt. Cover and refrigerate until flavors meld, 8 hours to overnight.
• Process the cold pork through a meat grinder on the slowest speed.
• Push a casing onto the stuffing tube of your meat grinder. Feed the sausage meat through the filling tray. Run the meat through the casing on the slowest speed until all the casing is used up. Tie casing at the end into a knot. Pinch and twist the meat to create links if desired.
• Place sausage onto a wire rack set over a sheet pan. Refrigerate uncovered for 24 hours.
• Preheat a charcoal grill for medium heat. Separate the links and grill them until browned, about 5 minutes per side.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE SOUP

Steps:

• In a stockpot or Dutch oven, brown sausage with garlic. Stir in broth, tomatoes and carrots, and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes.
• Stir in beans with liquid and zucchini. Cover, and simmer another 15 minutes, or until zucchini is tender.
• Remove from heat, and add spinach. Replace lid allowing the heat from the soup to cook the spinach leaves. Soup is ready to serve after 5 minutes.

ITALIAN-STYLE SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the sausages; cook until browned on all sides, following cooking instructions indicated on the packaging. Remove sausages from the pan. Drain grease, leaving about a tablespoon for the vegetables.
• Cook peppers and onions in skillet over medium heat until they begin to soften. Add garlic, salt, and pepper and cook one more minute.
• Stir in Classico Tomato & Basil Sauce. Increase heat until sauce begins to boil; reduce heat and simmer over low heat.
• Cut the sausages into 1-inch pieces; add to the pan and stir to combine. Cook until the sauce has thickened and the peppers and onions are soft, about 10 minutes.
• Serve in bowls or on rolls as sandwiches.

FESTIVAL-STYLE GRILLED ITALIAN SAUSAGE SANDWICHES

Steps:

• Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat. Lightly oil grate, and set 4 inches from the heat.
• Pierce the sausages in a few places with a fork, and set aside. Slice off the bottoms of the onion halves so they will sit flat on the grill. Brush the bell pepper and onion halves with 2 teaspoons of olive oil.
• Place the sausages, onions, and peppers on the preheated grill. Cook and turn the sausages until well browned and juices run clear. Cook vegetables until tender and peppers are slightly charred. Remove vegetables and sausages from the grill.
• Place the peppers in a paper bag, close, and cool slightly. Remove and discard the charred skin from the peppers; slice peppers into strips. Slice the onion halves. Place salt and pepper to taste, and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a bowl. Add the peppers and onions, and toss until evenly coated. To serve, place sausages in sandwich rolls, and top with the pepper and onion mixture.

MANICOTTI WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepot over medium heat. Cook the sausage, breaking it up into small pieces, until browned and caramelized, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the sausage to a paper towel-lined plate and reserve for the filling.
• Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the pot and cook the onion until softened and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute (the tomato paste will turn a deep maroon color). Add the crushed tomatoes, sugar, bay leaves, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and a pinch of black pepper. Bring to a simmer, reduce the heat to low and cook for 30 minutes. Melt the butter into the sauce, remove the bay leaves and stir in 1/3 cup of basil. Remove the sauce from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature, 40 minutes.
• For the filling: mix together the ricotta, reserved sausage, the remaining 1/3 cup basil, 1 1/2 cups mozzarella, 1 1/2 cups Parmesan, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Fold in 1 cup of the cooled tomato sauce. Place the filling in a large piping bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the manicotti shells until they have softened slightly but still hold their tubular shape, 5 minutes.
• Pour half of the tomato sauce into a broiler-proof 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Fill each shell with the ricotta mixture. Place the filled shells in the baking dish. Pipe any extra filling along the ends of the shells in the dish. Top with the remaining tomato sauce and sprinkle the remaining 1 1/2 cups mozzarella and 1 cup Parmesan over the top. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake until the sauce begins to bubble, 40 minutes. Remove the dish from the oven, remove the foil and increase the oven to 425 degrees F. Put the manicotti back into the oven to bake until the cheese is browned and bubbling, about 10 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

QUICK ITALIAN SAUSAGE SANDWICHES

Steps:

• Place sausages and water in a large skillet; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Uncover; cook 5-10 minutes longer or until meat is no longer pink; drain. Remove sausages and keep warm., In the same skillet, saute pepper and onion in oil until tender. Return sausages to pan. Stir in spaghetti sauce and basil; heat through. Serve sausages on buns with sauce and cheese.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE STUFFED SHELLS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly oil a 9x13 baking dish.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook shells in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until tender yet firm to the bite, about 10 to 12 minutes. Drain. Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet; place drained pasta on baking sheet to cool.
• Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a heavy skillet. Cook and crumble sausage until it has lost its pink color and begins to brown. Remove from heat; drain off grease.
• Stir half of the shredded cheese and the Italian seasoning into the browned sausage. Spoon mixture into the pasta shells (1 to 2 tablespoons per shell). Arrange stuffed shells in prepared baking dish. Pour marinara sauce evenly over the shells. Top with remaining shredded cheese. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
• Bake in preheated oven until heated through and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Remove foil; bake until browned, 5 to 10 more minutes. Sprinkle with a pinch of Italian seasoning, if desired.

PASTA SAUCE WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Removed casing from sausage links and cut into 1/2 inch slices. In a large skillet, brown sausage over medium heat for about 10 minutes; remove and set aside.
• In a large skillet, heat ground beef, olive oil, garlic and onion over medium heat until meat is nicely browned; drain.
• Pour in tomatoes and tomato sauce; mix in salt, ground black pepper, basil, oregano, bay leaf and cooked sausage. Simmer uncovered for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
• Mix cooked sauce with hot pasta and remove bay leaf from sauce before serving.

EASY ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND RIGATONI

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook rigatoni in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until tender yet firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain and set aside.
• Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a large baking dish.
• Cook sausage and onion in a large skillet until meat is no longer pink and onions are translucent, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Combine spaghetti sauce, cottage cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley, Italian seasoning, basil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add sausage and onion mixture; stir until well combined. Add pasta and carefully mix until well incorporated. Transfer to the prepared baking dish and cover.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven, top with remaining mozzarella, and bake, uncovered, until cheese is melted, about 15 minutes.

ITALIAN WHITE BEAN AND SAUSAGE STEW

Steps:

• Soak beans in cold water, 8 hours to overnight.
• Drain beans and set aside.
• Make a cut down the center of each sausage and peel off the casing. Transfer sausage into a dry soup pot over medium-high heat. Brown sausage, while breaking it up into small pieces with a wooden spoon, 5 to 7 minutes. Cook and stir until juices start to caramelize and stick to the bottom of the pan, creating a fond, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add onion and stir to coat in the rendered sausage fat. Cook until onion starts to turn translucent, about 5 minutes. Add white wine to deglaze the pot. Add black pepper, red pepper flakes, bay leaf, and water.
• Add drained beans, increase heat to high, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes. Add salt and continue to simmer until beans are tender, about 30 more minutes. Taste beans to be certain they are perfectly cooked.
• Smash about 1/4 of the beans with a potato masher to give the stew a creamy texture if desired. Stir in chopped kale, increase heat to medium, and cook until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Taste and adjust salt.
• Ladle hot soup into bowls, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and a pinch of red pepper flakes.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE-STUFFED ZUCCHINI

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Cut each zucchini lengthwise in half. Scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4-in. shell; chop pulp. Place zucchini shells in a large microwave-safe dish. In batches, microwave, covered, on high 2-3 minutes or until crisp-tender., In a large skillet, cook sausage and zucchini pulp over medium heat 6-8 minutes or until sausage is no longer pink, breaking sausage into crumbles; drain. Stir in tomatoes, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, herbs and pepper. Spoon into zucchini shells., Place in 2 ungreased 13x9-in. baking dishes. Bake, covered, 15-20 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake, uncovered, 5-8 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. If desired, sprinkle with additional minced parsley.

JOHNSONVILLE® ITALIAN SAUSAGE LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a skillet, cook sausage, onion and garlic until pork is no longer pink and onion is tender; drain. Add marinara sauce and oregano; simmer for 5 minutes. In a bowl, combine ricotta cheese, egg, 1/4 cup Parmesan and spinach.
• In a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish, spread 1 cup meat sauce. Arrange 3 noodles over sauce. Spread one-fourth of the ricotta cheese mixture over the noodles, top with 1 cup of meat sauce. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Repeat process 3 times. Top with remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 40 to 45 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. Serve.

ITALIAN SAUSAGE, SPINACH, AND RICOTTA CANNELLONI

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and saute the onion until fragrant and translucent. Add the Italian sausage meat, breaking it up with the back of a wooden spoon and brown it until no longer pink, about 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the excess fat from the sausage meat, and set aside to cool. In a large mixing bowl stir together the drained and squeeze-dried spinach, ricotta, 1 1/2 cups Parmesan, eggs, cooled Italian sausage and onion mixture, salt, and freshly ground black pepper, to taste. Place the oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook the fresh pasta rectangles for 1 minute and remove with a slotted spatula. Set aside. In a 9 by 13-inch baking dish, spread 2 cups tomato sauce. Working with 1 pasta rectangle at a time, spread 6 tablespoons filling along one edge and roll the pasta sheet up tightly, leaving the ends open. Repeat until you have 8 cannelloni. Arrange the prepared cannelloni, seam-side down, in a single layer in the baking dish. Spoon the remaining 2 cups tomato sauce evenly over the cannelloni. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup grated Parmesan over top. Bake the cannelloni for 20 minutes and let it stand for 10 minutes before serving. Serve the cannelloni with extra tomato sauce from the baking dish and garnish with fresh basil.
• To make fresh pasta dough: Mound the flour on a clean work surface. Hollow out the center making a well in the middle of the flour with steep sides. Break the eggs into the well. Add the salt, and olive oil to the hollow center and gently mix together with a fork. Gradually start incorporating the flour by pulling in the flour from the sides of the well. As you incorporate more of the flour, the dough will start to take shape. With your hands or a bench scraper continue working the dough until it comes together. If the dough is too dry, add a little water; if too wet or sticky, add a little flour. Begin kneading the dough and keep kneading until it becomes smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. At this point, set the dough aside, cover it with plastic, and let it rest for 15 to 20 minutes. You can store the dough in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours, but allow it to return to room temperature before rolling it out. Divide the pasta dough into 4 even sections. Keep each section covered with plastic wrap or a clean towel while you work with each one. Flour the dough, the rollers of a pasta roller (or your rolling pin), your hands, and the work surface. If using a pasta machine: Flatten 1 of the of the dough pieces between your hands or with a floured rolling pin until it forms a thick oval disk. Dust the disk, the roller, and your hands with additional flour. Flour a baking sheet to hold the rolled out finished pasta. With the roller on the widest setting, pass the pasta through the machine's rollers a few times until it is smooth. Fold the dough over into 1/3, and continue to pass through a few more times until the pasta is smooth again. Begin adjusting the pasta machine settings to become thinner, passing the dough through a few times at each setting. If rolling the pasta by hand: Flatten a dough piece into a thick oval disk with your hands. Flour a baking sheet for the rolled out finished pasta. Place the oval dough disk on a floured work surface, and sprinkle with additional flour. Begin rolling out the dough with a floured rolling pin working from the center of the dough outwards, constantly moving the dough and lifting it to make sure it's not sticking.
• To make Simple Tomato Sauce: In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion, and garlic and cook until soft and golden brown. Add the basil and cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes with their juices and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, until the sauce has thickened. With a potato masher, break up the tomatoes to achieve a sauce-like consistency. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and serve. Cook's Note: Tomato sauce will last 1 week in the refrigerator and up to 6 months in the freezer.

MAKE AHEAD ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND PASTA BAKE

Steps:

• Cut sausage into 1/2 inch chunks. I large skillet, brown sausage over medium-high heat, in batches and adding oil if necessary. Transfer sausage to a bowl.
• Pour off any fat from pan. Add onions, garlic and red pepper, cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in pasta sauce, tomato sauce, basil, oregano and fennel seeds; bring to a boil, stirring and scraping up any brown bits from bottom of pan. Return sausage and any accumulated juices to pan; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until sausage is firm throughout.
• Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta for 6 minutes, add spinach;cook for 1 minute. Drain well and return to pot. Add sausage mixture and provolone/mozzarella cheese; stir to combine well.
• Transfer to 2 greased 8-inch square baking dishes or 1 13x9-inch dish. Sprinkle with Asiago/parmesan cheese. Cover dish with greased foil, greased side down.
• To serve: Bake, covered with foil, in in 375 degree F. oven for 30 minutes or for 1 hour if from the refrigerator. This freezes beautifully (thaw in refrigerator before baking).