Pasta with Hot Sausage Sauce

This is a wonderful spicy Italian sauce. I followed it exactly and I loved the flavors the capers bring to the sauce. Next time I might leave out the extra crushed red pepper flakes. It thickened up nicely by letting it simmer without a cover. Overall, it was a big hit!

YUMMMMMM!!! Husband and kids couldn't stop raving or eating! (And let me add that spaghetti is NOT on the list of favorite meals in our house!) I made a few minor revisions based on ingredients I had on hand-- eliminated red wine and capers, used petite diced tomatoes instead of crushed, added a small can of tomato paste and a tad of sugar, used half hot sausage and half sweet. DELICIOUS!!!! This is the sauce we've been looking for. Thanks for sharing!

This is excellent sauce. I made as directed, except for increasing the sausage by 1/3 and using half bulk and half sliced link for texture - and I used penne pasta because that's what I had. I would really recommend NOT omitting the capers or the wine - they are what makes this sauce special. Thanks for the recipe - a keeper! :)

This is a wonderfully easy, delicious recipe! I followed it pretty closely, except I used turkey sausage to reduce fat and I left out the capers, because I didn't have any. I drained the whole tomatoes and then mashed them before adding to the sausage. I reduced the pepper(s) to 1/8 tsp. each because my husband is not a fan of spicy food, but the wine & spices still added plenty of flavor. I let it simmer for about an hour and it made a thick, rich sauce. I'll definitely be making this again. Thanks for sharing!

I followed this recipe exactly, and my husband said it was the best sauce he'd ever had. Thanks sooooooooo much! I love to see that gleam in his eye.

This sauce is excellent. I've tried many homemade versions of sugo and this is great. So easy to make. Why would anyone buy bottled sauce? This is inexpensive to make. Nice and thick, rich tomato taste, fresh ingredients. My husband loved it as well as I. Will make it again. If anyone wanted to substitute the meat, they could as the rich sauce carries any flavor well.

Great stuff. Kids loved it.

Holy Cow! I loved this!!! Flavors turned out sooo good! Next time will triple the recipe and freeze it! Great over any pasta... sooo much better than store bought!

This was very good. It's not too spicy but just enough to give it really good flavor. My husband really liked it. I added some fresh basil and I wasn't sure what the recipe meant when it said "whole peeled potatoes, mashed, liquid reserved". I smashed the tomatoes with the liquid and added it to the sauce. You can also use a penne pasta with this.

Had no capers, wine, tomato sauce but substituted green olives and tomato paste.. just wonderful!

Thanks 'Italian Man' this was very good. I needed to use the hot sausage I bought the other day and found your recipe. It was delicious, spicy and easy. A very ecomical way to feed a family! Everyone loved it!

I made this recipe just as it appears on the site - no changes. After 45 minutes it was still a bit watery so I simmered very slowly for another 30 minutes. Great sauce! Nice flavor and spice. I'll make it again.

DECIDED TO TRY THIS RECIPE SINCE I HAD LEFTOVER SPICY SAUSAGE. I ADDED EVERYTHING BUT THE WINE AND CAPERS (DID NOT HAVE THEM ON HAND), I AM SURE THIS WILL ONLY MAKE THE RECIPE EVEN BETTER THE NEXT TIME. I JUST WANTED TO ADD THAT I USED STORE BRAND WHOLE AND CRUSHED TOMATOES AND FOR SOME REASON THERE WAS A LINGERING METAL CAN TASTE TO MY SAUCE- NEXT TIME I WILL USE A BETTER BRAND IN HOPES TO AVOID THIS PROBLEM. MY HUSBAND LOVED IT- THX!

This is one of the best pasta sauce recipes I've ever found. I did substitute two 25 oz. jars of a good quality tomato basil spaghetti sauce for the whole peeled tomatoes, crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce because I had them on hand. Otherwise, I followed the recipe as written. I loved the addition of the red wine and capers and thought they really enhanced the flavor of the sauce. I would definitely recommend this recipe to those who want a spicy, flavorful sauce that tastes homemade.

Excellent! Very good flavor. I used sweet red wine and it was amazing and the left over portion in the bottle went very well with pasta. I used sweet sausage instead because I'm not a spice fan and gave it just the right amount of heat. Surprisingly easy to make. Loved it. One of my favorites from now on. An impressive main course for entertaining.

Great pasta dish that everyone enjoys. Excellent taste. Only change I did was no capers. Did not miss the one ingredient

This was enjoyable but not outstanding. I did add a few mushrooms and a little chopped green pepper for a little extra texture and colour. I just thought this had far too much tomato for my test buds, did enjoy the hot taste. Not sure its a recipe I will be making again - Sorry!

This was awesome! Pretty much followed to the letter, but used fresh herbs instead of dried, and increased the amount. Just because I have lots of fresh herbs growing right now.

Thanks for the great idea. This was really good. Versatile basic sauce, I didn't have capers so I left them out, it was still delicious. Did not need a jar of sauce, the other ingredients were enough. Also, a good sauce even without the sausage as a vegetarian option. I will try to never use sauce from the jar again. It is so much better this way. Thank you.

I can't say enough about how good this recipe is. If I could give it 10 stars, I would. It's my go-to comfort pasta dish. If you don't have all that time to let it cook down, you can add a little tomato paste to thicken it up in 10 or 15 minutes. The flavor won't be quite as good as if you had let it simmer for longer, but it works in a pinch. I love it on penne rigate, but ziti is good, too.

VERY good. I used hot turkey sausage and served over regular spaghetti noodles. Kicked the wine up to about 3/4 cup and added about a tsp of fennel. Wonderful!

We really enjoyed this! I did need to add a 6 oz can of tomato paste because my sauce seemed a bit runny and a pinch of sugar. I didn't have capers either but nonetheless very tasty!! Thanks for sharing!

I very rarely give anything 5 stars, but this dish was fantastic! I followed the recipe exactly as written, although the whole tomatoes I used already had basil in them. It is a spicy recipe, but that was fine for us; we love it spicy!

My husband loved this dish! Thanks for sharing your recipe!

I love the flavors on this recipe. The capers and the red wine brought out a different dimension on cooking pasta. It very good.

This was very good. I didn't have capers either, so just left those out. Hubby doesn't like the texture of chunky tomatos, so I put them all in the blender and pureed them. At first I thought it was going to be too runny, but after cooking it thickened up just perfectly. Other than that, I followed directions to the tee (although I don't measure spices). Hubby LOVED it.

This is so simple and sooo good. My picky hubby just said "YUM!"

This was pretty tasty and easy to prepare. My sauce was also a little watery but still good. My kids enjoyed it so I will make it again.

Muy delicioso.. this recipe is knockout..

This was really good. I made it almost to a T and it was a hit at my house. I used half spicy and half mild sausage just to tone it down for the kiddos. They liked it. Thank you

This was delicious - I'm not a fan of capers and don't keep them around so I left those out, I don't think it mattered. It was also easy and tasted so much better then opening a jar of sauce. Yum.

I really enjoyed this recipe. It was easy to make and flavorful. I did use mild Italian sausage because of my kids. My 10 year old Daughter thought it was spicey but liked it. I left out the capers. Didn't have them and didn't want to buy them. Next time I will try it with turkey italian sausage and whole wheat pasta. I did use the ziti. Very good! It's a keeper!

Very good recipe - I used chicken sausage instead of Italian (and it was fine). Using the capers is CRUCIAL, it really adds zing to the sauce. Be sure to let it simmer without covering as it will be watery otherwise.

Very good sauce...a nice change of pace from typical ground beef sauce.

This was awesome. My husband was concerned that it smelled so strong initially but after simmering, he couldn't stop eating...

Oh My God!!! I have been making ItaliaN SAUCES FOR 40 YEARS AND THIS ONE HAS GOT TO BE THE BEST!!! i DIDNT CHANGE A THING. mY HUSBAND RAVED OVER IT. WE HAD IT FOR DINNER LAST NIGHT AND LEFTOVERS TODAY. ALL YOU NEED IS A LITTLE GARLIC BREAD AND YOU HAVE A FABULOUS DINNER. DONT FORGET THE RED WINE.

I liked this, but it gets five stars because my 16 month-old son LOVED it. He ate two portions at dinner and then ate the leftovers for lunch for two days in a row, cleaning his plate every time. I know he'd like to see this one in the permanent rotation!

I have made this three times since I tried it in July. We just love it and I made it for different family members and shared with a neighbor. Everyone loved it. I did increase the sausage to 1 1/3 lbs as one reviewer suggested and it works. If you love Italian sausage and spicy food, this is a keeper. Elaine

This is a really nice flavorful easy recipe. I used italian turkey sausage instead of pork. Keep the capers and wine, it def. makes the recipe! I did shorten simmer time to 10 mins. by using spicy red pepper tomato sauce i had on hand. (I still added canned tomatoes, garlic, red onion etc.)

I made this recipe without any changes. I love the spiciness of this recipe. While it isn't my favorite pasta sauce (doesn't everyone have that one favorite, tried and true recipe?), I made it because I wanted a change. I will definitely make it again.

I had brought home some spicy Italian sausage and so decided to make a quick pasta sauce. I browned the sausage and then added onion, carrots, celery, green pepper and garlic, simmered until veggies were softened then added the wine and let that reduce just a bit. In went a 28 oz can crushed tomatoes and 14 oz can of stewed tomatoes as that is what I had on hand. Besides the basil, oregano and parsley, I also added a shake of sage & good grating of nutmeg. It will now simmer until dinner. This was good for a quick sauce but will likely stick with my favorite version from Fabio Viviani----now that is amazing!!

A little bit of a thinner sauce, even after simmering for an extra half hour. But thats ok, because it is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! I love spicy foods, and some people may raise an eyebrow at this, but I added a homegrown habanero to the recipe and it really kicked it up a notch and added a nice sweet flavor to it! I highly recommend if you aren't scared of spicy food. Other than that and the extra simmer time, I followed the recipe to the T and it is delicious!!!! LOVE IT AND WILL MAKE PROBABLY TOO OFTEN. Super cheap to make as well.

Pretty easy and got good reviews from my DH. Too spicy for my two year old. I didn't have capers so omitted them. I also did not use spicy sausage but a milder one. Did not serve with ziti - but still tasted good.

My family loved it!

My husband and son enjoyed this sauce, I felt the wine still tasted strong in the sauce after simmering for hours and sauce was a little thin. I might make again with a few changes, thanks for recipe.

outstanding recipe. although I didn't have capers I added kalimata olives and added mushrooms. great dish

I made it exactly the way the recipe is written. Love it, have made it a few times and will make it again.

It was not the best spaghetti with meat sauce I've ever made. I thought the hot sausage would bring a new flavor dimension, but I was disappointed. It was way too greasy (I didn't drain the sausage per the instructions). It was a little bit too spicy for the kids and they are used to red pepper in their sauce.

I’d give this recipe 10 stars, if I could!!!! Oh, my stars!! What great flavors!! I made the recipe as directed, but don’t measure much. I did use 5 fresh end-of-season tomatoes rather than the 28-oz. can. I blanched then to remove skin and smashed them up as if they’d been the canned variety. I also used up a large handful of fresh basil, too. My Italian Sausage was top quality from a local butcher. I used lemon-garlic linguine as my base.

One of the great meals I've added to my rotation. I left out the 1 8oz can of tomato sauce simply because I didn't have it on hand at the time. I'll try with it next time but I'm not convinced it's needed.

Add sugar to cut down the acidity. Other than that, its really good.

I've made this "by the book" and also "off the cuff," depending on what I have on hand -- great reviews every single time. The capers really make this dish. I sometimes use a splash of balsamic vinegar if I don't have red wine on hand.

Came out great! I omitted the capers, since I didn't have them, and will probably use a milder turkey sausage next time, because it was very spicy.

so nice i liked

I made just the sauce for spaghetti because I only had sausage thawed out. My kids liked it and so do I. I will be making this again.

This was okay but not outstanding. I'm always trying out new pasta sauce recipes, so thanks for posting this one.