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Creamy Mozzarella Pasta with Smoked Sausage - Italian style pasta dinner that looks good and tastes great! Short penne pasta with thinly sliced smoked sausage are smothered in a delicious creamy sauce made with garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, red pepper flakes, half and half, and Mozzarella cheese.
This creamy sausage pasta is a great recipe to try with the savory smoked sausage.
The recipe easily feeds 4 people, or makes an easy weeknight dinner for two, with leftovers for next day's lunch.
What makes this smoked sausage pasta especially tasty is that first you cook sliced sausage for about 4 minutes, letting it release juices, and then you incorporate these juices into the creamy sauce, making the pasta dish spicier and more flavorful.
Creamy Mozzarella Pasta with Smoked Sausage
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 0.4 lb smoked sausage , sliced (I used Gyulai Smoked Sausage)
- ¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes , without oil, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 ½ cups half and half
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese , shredded
- 8 oz penne pasta
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- salt to taste (optional)
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add sliced sausage, cook for 4 minutes, about 2 minutes on each side. Sausage will release its own juice. Remove sausage from the skillet.
- To the same skillet, add chopped sun-dried tomatoes and minced garlic. Cook for about 1 minute, constantly stirring.
- Add half and half. Bring to boil. Add cheese, reduce heat, and keep stirring until the cheese melts. Bring heat to medium, if needed, to melt the cheese, then reduce to simmer.
- Cook pasta, drain.
- Add cooked and drained pasta and sausage back to the skillet with the sauce. Stir. Add pepper flakes.
- Note: I did not have to add salt, as the smoked sausage is already salty and provides enough saltiness. Add salt to taste, if needed.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer:
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Delish!
Thanks!
I accidentally used heavy cream
That should've worked just fine!
I am new to your fb page and I love everything so far!!
We love spicy and flavorful food. Trying very hard to substitute pasta with veggies. I LOVE pasta but my middles is aware of that truth! Ha!
Keep the recipes coming!
Laurie, thank you for such a heartwarming comment - it made me smile! 🙂 This recipe would be great with roasted spaghetti squash instead of pasta!
My picky 3 year old loved it! Minus the flakes for his bowl!
Sierra, I am so glad the recipe was enjoyed! 🙂 Thank you for the 5-star review!
I wanted to love this so bad but unfortunately I didn’t.
I couldn't open the jar of my Sun-dried tomatoes, so I substituted it with fresh tomatoes. I also added some spinach as I'm always trying to incorporate veggies into my kids food. The pasta tasted awesome. My daughter loved it. Thank you for this easy to cook & delicious recipe. Will definitely make again.
I am so glad you tried this recipe and loved it! Fresh tomatoes and spinach are a great addition! Thank you for this positive feedback and Happy Holidays! 🙂
My husband is lactose intolerant what can I use besides half/half? Thank you
One option would be unsweetened coconut milk which you can just use as is 1:1 for a cream with no changes made in this recipe.
Another option is to make a roux in a separate saucepan with a small amount of olive oil and flour (about 3 tablespoons each), and then gradually add unsweetened oat milk or almond milk (using 1/4 cup at a time), constantly stirring. The milk mixture should not violently boil - just low boil or simmer. It should thicken after stirring.
Very good. Added some basil. Will definitely make again.
Basil is a nice addition, Dave! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Um… it was fine for a quick and easy late week night dinner, but defo not my fave. personally, it doesn’t have enough flavor in the sauce, and i kinda had to rely on the sausage for a good taste. I don’t really plan on making this again, but if i did, i would defo make some changes to the recipe. but not bad for an after school dinner
Meredith, I am glad you somewhat enjoyed this recipe.
The picture shows a green spice on the top is that scallions or basil
I had to zoom in on my own photos. Those, I believe, are green onions. Chives would work, too.
I use dice Tomatoes didn’t have sun-dried tomatoes which hopefully it comes out OK is that OK to use
Yes, diced tomatoes should work just fine. The flavor will be different but still delicious!
Hi , I was going to make this recipe but I don’t have the sun dried tomatoes is there anything else I can substitute it for?
You can use roasted red bell peppers. Or, mushrooms.
Tasty and fast to put together, will make again.
So glad you liked it! 🙂
Delicious!
Thanks! 🙂
Very easy to make and tasted awesome. I added ground cayenne pepper instead of using red pepper flakes. Will definitely make this again.
Deena, I am glad you liked it! 🙂
Is there a video for this?
Not yet. But coming soon!
Delicious! Thank you for a quick easy recipe!
Ashley, you are very welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!
I made this and followed the recipe, it was soooo bland I had to season it. Also tuned grainy… Would make this again with a different recipe
So sorry to hear that! To avoid the grainy texture, here are my suggestions:
1) Use low-moisture part-skim Mozzarella cheese that's never been frozen. Freezing the cheese and subsequently using it might result in a grainy texture.
2) Bring the cream to a quick boil and IMMEDIATELY reduce to a low simmer.
3) Use heavy cream instead of half-and-half next time.
What is half and half please
Half-and-half is a US milk product (half milk, half heavy cream).
If you don't have it, just use regular cream - in my case, it would be heavy cream (that's cream with about 36% of milk fat content). Or use half amount of heavy cream (36% fat content) + half amount of regular milk.
Absolutely tasteless and awful....followed to a T......the sausage was good, but everything else was unbelievably bland....dogs didn't even want it, except for the sausage....
You’re tasteless. Go away
This is considered a basic top to a GREAT recipe. It allows you to adjust the flavor by adding in spices and vegetables to your desired taste. Anyone who cooks would realize that.
Yes I agree 100%. Most of the time I adjust seasonings or veggies in a recipe to my taste. This is a fantastic base recipe.
Glad you liked this recipe! 🙂
Wow...didnt your Mother teach you that if you have nothing nice to say...just be quiet? Seriously uncalled for rudeness! I hope you don't talk to your family so unkind!
I'm not sure who posted its bland. I think its delicious. Not sure what I did though, my sauce seized up and separated like. It's not creamy like yours looks. But is still is good. Thank you, finally a new dish my teenager likes.
Glad you enjoyed it! Sorry to hear about the sauce.
Let's troubleshoot:
1) Did you use low-moisture, part-skim Mozzarella cheese (pre-shredded) that's never been frozen? Not the fresh Mozzarella cheese?
2) Did you boil the sauce on higher heat for longer than a minute?
Your comment was uncalled for!! If can’t say some nice don’t say anything!!
So very true! I can't believe some of the rude comments people make! There is s way to express your opinion much better!
Kay, thank you for your kindness and support - I really appreciate it!
Wow Valerie Hatley you are so rude it's literally disgusting how you talk. Maybe instead of you sharing dinner with your dogs maybe your dogs can share dinner with you next time.
M.J., thank you for such a supportive comment - I really appreciate it! 🙂