Your email address is required to begin the subscription process. We will use it for customer service and other communications from Milk Street. You can unsubscribe from receiving our emails at any time.
Italian Sausage and Mushroom Ragu with Pappardelle
This recipe is free for a limited time. 12 WEEKS FOR $1 TO ACCESS EVERY MILK STREET RECIPE. Learn More.
This rich and hearty ragu was inspired by a recipe from Portland, Oregon, chef Vitaly Paley. Ground cinnamon, a hefty pour of red wine and crushed tomatoes build layers of flavor over a base of garlic, portobellos and Italian sausage. Choose a full-bodied, dry red wine, such as cabernet sauvignon. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
4
Servings
Tip
Don't use Italian sausage links, even if the casings are removed. Bulk sausage is better because its grind tends to be finer than that of link sausage, so the meat breaks apart more readily during cooking.
45 minutes
2 tablespoons salted butter
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 pound portabello mushrooms, stems and gills removed, caps finely chopped
2 large shallots, halved and thinly sliced
1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage
1 cup dry red wine
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
1 14½-ounce can crushed tomatoes
12 ounces dried pappardelle or tagliatelle pasta
Ingredients
-
2
tablespoons salted butter
-
5
garlic cloves, finely chopped
-
1
pound portabello mushrooms, stems and gills removed, caps finely chopped
-
2
large shallots, halved and thinly sliced
-
1
pound bulk sweet Italian sausage
-
1
cup dry red wine
-
1½
cups low-sodium chicken broth
-
½
teaspoon cinnamon
-
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
-
1
14½-ounce can crushed tomatoes
-
12
ounces dried pappardelle or tagliatelle pasta
Directions
-
01In a 12-inch skillet over medium, heat the butter and garlic until the butter has melted and the mixture has begun to sizzle. Add the mushrooms and shallots and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms have released their liquid and the shallots have softened, about 5 minutes. Add the sausage and cook, stirring and breaking the meat into small pieces, until no longer pink, 8 to 10 minutes. Discard any accumulated fat.
-
02Increase to medium-high and add the wine. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring, until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 5 minutes. Stir in the broth, cinnamon and ¾ teaspoon pepper. Continue to simmer until the broth has reduced by about half, 5 to 6 minutes. Reduce to medium, stir in the tomatoes and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Set aside, covered.
-
03While the sauce simmers, in a large pot bring 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add the pasta and 2 tablespoons salt and cook until the pasta is al dente. Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water, drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Add the sauce and toss to coat. If needed, toss in a few tablespoons of the reserved cooking water to thin the sauce to coat the pasta.
Reviews
February 25, 2023
Great way to use up all your mushrooms
Any mushroom will work here. Great ragu. Delicious and quick.
January 2, 2023
Warm and savory ragu
Wonderful recipe! Sometimes I'll use crimini in place of portobello. Will sometimes serve it over polenta rather than pasta.
December 11, 2022
The 'wow' factor
An earthy depth of flavor. Tastes like it simmered for hours.
April 28, 2023
Simple but flavorful
Loved making this super easy and great flavor for a weeknight meal
June 21, 2023
Delicious
This was easy and delicious. I saved some of the ragu without noodles for scrambled eggs the next day. Excellent choice.
With so much flavor added from all the other elements, we found water can be substituted for chicken broth with still great flavor if you don't want to defrost the chicken broth from the freezer. (In particular if you're using a boxed stock. Just say no to the box.) And if you can find Mutti brand crushed tomatoes, all the better. The cinnamon is "it" for this so while you may be tempted to leave it out (it is used more in regional Italian cooking than most American home cooks think), add it in. Cent'anni!
Not sure how to get this done in 45 minutes when I took 15 just to clean and chop the mushrooms! Maybe food processor next time. Otherwise fantastic flavors. As mentioned elsewhere - don’t skip the cinnamon.
Hi Lorraine -
Since the recipe recommends against using sausage with casing, I wouldn't recommend it for hot sausage either. I would be worried the food processor would over-process the sausage and turn it into a paste but, if you do decide to try it anyway, I would stick with the "pulse" rather than the "process" feature. Good luck!
Best,
The Milk Street Team
Made this tonight . Ran into trouble wiht wine reduction . Took more than 5 min. I may have taken 15 min ans I think it affected the “look” of the sauce. I think it still tasted good . Maybe next time I will just follow the time and ignore reduction . I wish there were more pictures online for step by step in all the recipes
I made this with link chicken sausage, which I squished out of the casings, and no onion or garlic, and it was still fabulously tasty! I was skeptical that I would want all those mushrooms, but I’m glad that I didn’t change that. I think the size of the pan is crucial, so that the mushrooms didn’t steam. Grazie!!
Hi Sally -
My only concern with doubling the recipe is fitting everything comfortably in a pan. It's already in a 12" skillet with 1 1/2 cups of broth (plus a lot of other ingredients). To double it, you'd need an extremely large skillet that fits 3 cups of broth. You could try doing it in a Dutch oven but I worry that the smaller surface area will affect how the mushrooms cook and how the liquid evaporates. Worth a try though!
Best,
The Milk Street Team
Followed recipe exactly and wasnt impressed . Wine reduction took long time ..broth reduction as well. Just seemed weird to keep adding different liquids then reducing. By the time this was done mushrooms were non existent and not much flavor let in the sausage chunks. I will try this again and maybe cut back on the liquids and chop my mushrooms coarser.
Hi, I don’t cook with alcohol. Sometimes I sub a bit of vinegar for the wine. What ratio or other solution would you recommend here?
Hi Kathleen -
I would recommend adding about 3/4 cup more chicken broth (or beef broth) and a couple of tablespoons of vinegar - make sure it's a good quality wine vinegar. If you don't cook with wine vinegar then a cider vinegar would work too. Even though it's a little bit less liquid than the recipe calls for I don't think it will matter too much in the end.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
This was quite good. I made it as written but for the fact that I used a combination of fresh oyster mushrooms from the farmers market and button mushrooms. It took 45 minutes as I used the food processor to mince the garlic. Then, after I started the garlic and butter in the skillet, and without washing out the processor bowl, I used it to chop the mushrooms (which I don't wash individually, instead simply running water over them in a colander). I am considering - for next time - cutting back a bit on the amount of pasta for this amount of sauce.
Become A Subscriber To Rate and Review All Our Recipes.
Please Log in or join today for $1.
FOR FREE ACCESS TO THIS RECIPE, PLEASE ENTER YOUR EMAIL
Thanks, you’re in! You will receive a confirmation email that includes a link to download your digital copy of COOKish: Special Editor's Picks.
Your First Issue
Thank you for your comment! Your comment is currently under moderation and will appear shortly.