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Pasta Alla Norcina (AKA Creamy Pasta with Sausage) is a cozy, comforting meal with savory sausage, white wine, nutty pecorino romano, and just a hint of nutmeg to really round out the dish. A perfect yet simple pasta to make to impress your guests or your family; this dish combines simple ingredients with bold, hearty flavors and a velvety sauce.
Table of Contents:
- Table of Contents:
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Ingredients for Pasta Alla Norcina
- Tips & FAQs:
- Recipe:
- Check out these other great recipes!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Pasta Alla Norcina: a rich and flavorful Italian dish originating from Norcia, a town in the Umbria region renowned for its sausages and truffles. Truffles are expensive, so I opted in for mushrooms. They still give that earthy and hearty note that truffles would, but with less of the cost. This recipe is rather simple and relatively quick to make, but has the same taste of a rich, slow-cooked dish, making it a great option for a family dinner or a dish for a dinner party. It’s hearty and savory punch of the sausage and mushrooms, simmered in white wine and heavy cream and garlic. Adding a pinch of nutmeg rounds out the dish without being too overpowering. trust me, it’s needed. Don’t skip it! Mixing in butter and cheese at the end gives the dish a velvety and cheesy taste. This dish is everything a pasta lover could want.
Ingredients for Pasta Alla Norcina
- Italian Pork Sausage: I used sweet sausage, but feel free to use hot if you want a spicier dish. You can get the sausage links and remove the casing, or get ground sausage to save time. Either way, it makes no difference to the taste.
- Cremini Mushrooms: While the original, authentic Pasta Alla Norcina recipe has black truffles, I went with mushrooms. It’s less money and easier to find. I’m not fortunate to have access to truffles whenever I want. Mushrooms still add that earthiness to the dish along with flavor and texture.
- Heavy Cream: The base for the sauce. It’s a signature ingredient in this dish.
- Mezzi Rigatoni: I love this pasta for this dish. It’s perfect for picking up the bits of sausage and mushrooms. This recipe was really designed for short cut, tubular pasta to hold the sauce. You can also use regular rigatoni, penne rigate, or try orecchiette.
- Garlic: It’s not a pasta recipe without garlic!
- Pecorino Romano Cheese: The incredible sharpness of this cheese is just what this recipe needs to round out its flavors. Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano cheeses work here as well.
- Dry White Wine: Enhances the sauces flavors and balances out the richness of the cream.
- Salt, Ground Black Pepper & Nutmeg: Using freshly ground black pepper makes this dish ten times better than before. As for the nutmeg: trust me, don’t skip the nutmeg. It gives a hint of warmness to the finished dish. It’s also an ingredient in the traditional version of this recipe. You only need a little bit since nutmeg is such a strong spice. A little goes a long way!
- Unsalted Butter: Used to add richness and silkiness to the finished pasta. If you don’t want to use butter, feel free to use extra virgin olive oil.
Tips & FAQs:
- Storage: This is best consumed the same day, but leftovers will keep in the fridge for 4 days. Reheat in the microwave with a splash of cream or milk and stir every 30 seconds to prevent the sauce from separating. You can also reheat this in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
- Pasta water is key here! Do NOT skip the water! Adding it to the sauce along with the pasta with give additional moisture that’s needed to finish cooking the pasta.
- The authentic version of this recipe has truffles. Why not use it? Truffles are extremely hard to find in a general supermarket and expensive. Mushrooms add that earthiness that it would’ve lacked otherwise. If you don’t like mushrooms, feel free to leave them out. If you have truffles just lying around in your kitchen, by all means, shave those babies over the dish!
Want the recipe? Click print below! Let me know how it came out for you by tagging me on Instagram (@missravenskitchen) and using #missravenskitchen! Let me know if I need to tweak anything.
Recipe:
Pasta Alla Norcina
Ingredients
- 16 oz penne or mezzi rigatoni
- 2 tbsp evoo
- 1 lb sweet sausage, casings removed (or ground sausage)
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 tsp salt
- 12 oz cremini or white button mushrooms, finely chopped
- 3/4 cup dry white wine
- 1 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp black pepper, plus freshly ground for garnish
- 3 tbsp unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook the rigatoni 1 minute from al dente and reserve 1 cup of pasta water (you may not need all).
- Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a Dutch oven or large saute pan. Crumble the sausage meat and cook until browned, about 8 minutes—season ½ tsp salt. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds more. Remove sausage from pot with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl.
- Add the mushrooms and season 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Spread the mushrooms out and let them cook until almost all of the liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally, 3-4 minutes. Add the cooked sausage back to the pot.
- Pour the white wine in and gently scrape any browned bits from the bottom. Increase the heat to medium-high and simmer for 3-4 minutes until the wine has reduced by half.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add the heavy cream. Simmer until thickened slightly, 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle in the nutmeg and remaining salt.
- Transfer the pasta to the pot and add in the pasta water 1/4 cup at a time until the sauce coats the pasta, about 1/2 cup to 3/4 cups total. Cook for 1 minute more until pasta is al dente. Remove from heat. Gently stir in butter and cheese.
- Freshly grind up black pepper and stir it in. Serve immediately.
Notes
Storage: This is best consumed the same day, but leftovers will keep in the fridge for 4 days. Reheat in the microwave with a splash of cream or milk and stir every 30 seconds to prevent the sauce from separating. You can also reheat this in a saucepan over medium-low heat.
Pasta water is key here! Do NOT skip the water! Adding it to the sauce along with the pasta with give additional moisture that’s needed to finish cooking the pasta.
The authentic version of this recipe has truffles. Why not use it? Truffles are extremely hard to find in a general supermarket and expensive. Mushrooms add that earthiness that it would’ve lacked otherwise. If you don’t like mushrooms, feel free to leave them out. If you have truffles just lying around in your kitchen, by all means, shave those babies over the dish!
Nutrition Facts
Calories
871Fat (grams)
54 gSat. Fat (grams)
26 gCarbs (grams)
62 gFiber (grams)
3 gSugar (grams)
5 gProtein (grams)
29 gSodium (milligrams)
1237 mgCholesterol (grams)
142 mgNet carbs
59 gThe nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and the brands of ingredients used.
Miss Raven's Kitchen 
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