This Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Rigatoni Pasta with Linguica Sausage is the perfect fall comfort food. The sweet tomatoes, creamy sauce, smokey sausage, and fresh pasta pair so well together.
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Why you'll love this recipe
- Made with smokey linguica sausage, this pasta is incredibly flavorful and the sausage adds a heartiness to the dish.
- This pasta is packed with spinach and mushrooms! These added vegetables make it a full meal!
- With just 35 minutes, this recipe is a great dish for a weeknight pasta meal!
Pasta Recommendations
I love using rigatoni, but you could use any pasta you have on hand, preferably short. I love cooking with Santa Cruz Pasta Factory's fresh pasta. They are a family-owned gourmet pasta company that serves delicious and fresh pasta and sauces. If you can't find their pasta at your local grocery store, you can order online here.
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Cooking with Linguica
I love using linguica sausage for this dish! Linguica offers so much flavor and a little smokiness to this pasta dish. I just slice the sausage on a bias and sear it on both sides to get it a little crispy. I particurarly love Neto's Sausage's linguica. Neto's Sausage is also a family-owned company and you can order online here.
Tips for prepping Linguica Pasta ahead
I always recommend preparing dishes as much as you can before guests arrive when hosting. On the day of serving, you can go through all the cooking steps through adding the cream to the sauce, then turning off the heat. Allow the sausage and sauce to come to room temperature before storing in an airtight container in the refrigerator. To resume cooking, reheat the sauce in the large skillet and pick back up with cooking the pasta and tossing in the rest of the ingredients into the sauce.
Serving suggestions
This is a hearty sausage pasta dish that doesn't need much else with it. It would be delicious with a glass of red wine and Caesar Salad.
More pasta recipes with sausage
If you make this Creamy Rigatoni Pasta with Linguica Sausage, I'd love to know what you think in the comments below!
📖 Recipe
Creamy Rigatoni Pasta with Linguica Sausage
Ingredients
- 10 oz linguica sausage, such as Neto's sausage sliced on a bias
- 2 tablespoon olive oil divided
- 1 cup diced yellow onion
- Kosher salt
- 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms sliced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped thyme leaves
- ½ cup dry white wine
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 lb rigatoni, such as Santa Cruz Pasta Factory
- 2 cups baby spinach leaves
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes patted dry if in liquid
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese plus more for topping, if desired
- freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Heat a large saute pan or cast iron skillet on medium heat. Add the linguica and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sausage is slightly crispy on each side, about 3-5 minutes. Remove the sausage from the pan and set aside. Degrease the pan if excess grease remains.
- Add 1 tbsp. olive oil, the onions, and a pinch of salt to the pan. Cook, stirring frequently until the onions begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms to the pan with another pinch of salt and tbsp. of olive oil. Saute the mushrooms until slightly softened, about 5 more minutes.
- Add the garlic and thyme to the pan and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the wine and use your spoon to scrape up any brown bits on the pan. Add the cream and bring to a simmer. Allow the cream to simmer until slightly thickened and coats the back of your spoon, about 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water with a big pinch of salt to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until al dente, according to package directions. Reserve ½ cup of the pasta water then drain the pasta.
- To the cream sauce, stir in spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and parmesan. Stir until the spinach is just slightly wilted. Stir in the sausage and cooked pasta. Add a tablespoon of reserved pasta water at a time until you reach desired consistency. Taste adding more salt and pepper if desired. Serve immediately, with more parmesan on top, if desired.
Notes
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David @ Spiced says
I absolutely love a creamy pasta sauce! This sounds delicious with the sliced sausage. I could go for this for dinner tonight for sure!
Caitlin from CC's Table says
Thank you so much, David! I hope you try it and love it! 🙂
Sherry M says
i'm not a pasta lover or eater but you have some great flavours here Caitlin.
Caitlin from CC's Table says
Thank you so much, Sherry! 🙂
Dan says
When do we add the sausage back to the pan? The recipe does not specify.
Caitlin Charlton says
Hi Dan! Add the sausage in when you stir in the cooked pasta. Enjoy! 🙂
Dan says
Thank you for the quick reply! That was delicious.
Caitlin Charlton says
I'm so happy to hear that! Thank you so much!