Italian sausage makes any meal a little more savory. Hot or mild, whole or crumbled, it pairs well with a variety of vegetables — including bright peppers, crunchy kale, fennel, and briny olives — as well as beans and pasta. It's convenient to keep on hand in the freezer and is easy to cook, so when it comes to weeknight dinner planning, Italian sausage is a no-brainer. Pick up some links and choose from flavor-packed dishes like cabbage-and-sausage pasta, stuffed eggplant, squash crostata, and more.
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Braised Sausage and Fennel with Toasted Spices
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With whole pink peppercorns and fennel seeds, this simple braise is gently perfumed and aromatic with bright spring flavors. Use a fresh, spicy sausage here to complement the creamy bean puree and sweet fennel.
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Spicy Sausage Pasta with Tomatoes and Squash
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Added just minutes before serving, thinly sliced squash melts into the pasta without losing its shape and texture. Use a mandoline to achieve wafer-thin slices. A spicy southern Italian red wine pairs nicely with the zippy sausage.
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White Beans with Sausage and Arrabiata Sauce
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Here, creamy Marcella beans gently mingle with spicy Italian sausage in a fiery arrabbiata sauce. The recipe is inspired by a seasonal dish F&W editor in chief Hunter Lewis enjoyed at Le Verre Volé in Paris.
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Buttery Cabbage-and-Sausage Pasta
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If comfort could be a recipe, it would be this pasta with mild Italian sausage and sweet, buttery cabbage cooked to melting tenderness. Use a short pasta, such as gemelli or rigatoni.
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Sausage and Ricotta Pizza with Castelvetrano Olives
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The combination of meaty, briny, vegetal flavors in this pizza hits so many satisfying notes that it's sure to be a favorite at your table. Bright green Castelvetrano olives mirror the Mediterranean seasoning in the crumbled Italian sausage.
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Sautéed Italian Sausage with Onions and Peppers
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Searing sweet Italian sausage in a dry skillet renders the fat, resulting in a deliciously crispy sausage. Tender bell peppers add a welcome vegetal sweetness to this one-pan dinner while they cook down in a blend of savory chicken broth and tangy vinegar perfect for sopping up with crusty bread.
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Orecchiette with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe
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This hearty pasta from Puglia is one of our weeknight go-tos. Sweet-spicy Italian sausage and bitter broccoli rabe are amplified by a lot of garlic, a handful of grated or shaved Parmesan, and a healthy pinch of crushed red pepper flakes.
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Cheesy Sausage co*cktail Toasts
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For these tasty toasts, cookbook author Andrea Slonecker borrows from the nostalgic flavors of her childhood and swaps creamy mascarpone and robust Taleggio for the Velveeta in her grandmother's original version. "The topping can be made a few days ahead, and it's as straightforward as browning some Italian sausage and melting in the cheeses," she writes.
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Après-Ski Lasagna
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For her hearty, make-ahead meal for a group, Andrea Slonecker relies on convenient boxed noodles, canned tomatoes, and Italian sausage, balanced by bright fresh basil, earthy mushrooms, and creamy ricotta cheese.
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Baked Stuffed Eggplant with Italian Sausage
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Ripe tomatoes and roasted eggplant come together to yield a hearty filling, made even better with the addition of Italian sausage. Combined with a bright, lemony breadcrumb topping and a quick-fix tomato sauce jazzed up with fresh herbs, this makes a stunning summer main dish.
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Pasta with Sausage, Basil, and Mustard
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This recipe is a Food & Wine favorite: In 2018, we named it one of our 40 best. Matching spicy sausage with a creamy mustard sauce and fragrant basil, British cookbook author Nigel Slater created a quick pasta supper with warm, mildly spicy flavors.
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Sausage-Stuffed Fried Olives
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Buttery, mild Castelvetrano olives add just enough salt and tang to these fried sausage snacks, which pair beautifully with a crisp Martini or chilled glass of wine. Use a high-quality Italian sausage for the best texture and flavor.
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Ragù di Salsiccia (Sausage Ragù) with Tajarin
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Mild Italian sausage and veal come together in a lightly sweet and aromatic ragù with tajarin — a Piedmontese fresh pasta that gets its gold color from a high ratio of egg yolks to flour. Substitute store-bought fresh or dried pasta if you like.
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Sausage, Kale, and Potato Skillet Supper
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When cookbook author and For the Culture founder/editor Klancy Miller makes a delicious meal for one, she says it's an exercise of creativity and self-care. She combines small red potatoes, spicy sausage, succulent kale, and thinly sliced red onions to make an easy skillet supper.
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Delicata Squash and Sausage Crostata with Ricotta and Honey
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This crostata layers fennel-spiced Italian sausage, chile, delicata squash, and honey for a dinner that pairs well with a northern Italian Dolcetto.
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Crispy Rice Cake Lasagna
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For this creative take on lasagna, chewy, tender Korean rice cakes are coated with a spicy sauce of sweet Italian sausage, fennel seeds, crushed red pepper flakes, gochujang, ssamjang, and kimchi. A caramelized, bubbly, stringy provolone topping helps temper the heat.
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Roast Chicken with Sausage and Peppers
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This dish uses both roast chicken and hot Italian sausage to create the classic flavors of an Italian sausage sub.
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Italian Sausage Burgers with Garlicky Spinach
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Using sausage in burgers is a smart shortcut because the meat is already seasoned. Here, former Food & Wine editor Grace Parisi makes her burgers with sweet or hot Italian sausages, tops them with provolone cheese, and serves them on ciabatta rolls with garlicky spinach and sun-dried-tomato pesto.
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