Italian Sausage Fettucine
Submitted by donkaminski
Italian sausage fettuccine with hot Italian sausage, onions, and a silky bechamel cream sauce. A weeknight spicy-creamy pasta that’s ready in 40 minutes.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
15 minCOOK
25 minREADY
40 minHot Italian sausage meets creamy béchamel for a pasta that’s rich, spicy, and quicker than any red sauce simmer. Squeezing the meat from the sausage casings lets it crumble into tender bites as it browns, so you don’t end up with rubbery whole links.
The sauce starts with a classic white sauce: butter, flour, and milk whisked into a smooth béchamel in one pan while the sausage fries in another. The two streams meet in the middle, with the spiced sausage adding all its browned drippings to the cream.
Garlic powder instead of fresh might surprise Italian purists, but here it disperses evenly through the sauce without the sharp raw bite fresh garlic leaves if added late. A pinch of cayenne reinforces the heat from the hot sausage; skip it for a milder dish.
Rinsing the cooked fettuccine in hot water is an old-school move that washes off surface starch and keeps the noodles from clumping before the sauce hits. Ladle generously and serve straight away; cream sauce thickens fast as it cools.
Chef Tips
- Squeeze sausage meat out of the casings by slicing lengthwise and peeling the casing off
- Make the béchamel first and keep it warm over low heat; milk skin forms if it sits uncovered
- Whisk constantly while adding milk to the flour-butter mixture; lumps now stay lumps
- Salt the pasta water generously, this is your only chance to season the noodles
- Finish with grated Parmesan at the table for extra richness
Variations
- Swap hot sausage for mild Italian or chicken sausage to tame the heat
- Add sautéed mushrooms or spinach for vegetables
- Stir in a handful of Parmesan at the end for a cheesier sauce
Ingredients
Directions
Make a white sauce with the 2 tablespoons butter, flour, and milk.
Set aside.
In frying pan, squeeze the meat out of the sausage casings, and fry.
Add onions and continue cooking until onions are translucent and sausage meat is cooked all the way through.
Add the garlic powder, parsley, salt and pepper and cayenne to the sausage mixture.
Mix thoroughly.
Meanwhile, start pot of water to boil for fettucine.
Add cream sauce to the meat mixture in the frying pan, and simmer while fettucine is cooking.
When fettucine is al dente, drain and rinse in hot water.
Serve by ladling the meat and sauce mixture over top of hot fettucine.
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