Spicy Bolognese Pasta
Spicy bolognese sauce gets kicked up a notch with garlic, spicy sausage and red pepper. A hearty meal made even better with a glass of good Italian wine.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hr 15 mins
- Total Time: 1 hr 25 mins
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: sauce
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
Scale
- 9 ozs Andouille chicken sausage or other spicy sausage
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1.5 lbs ground beef, preferably grass fed
- ½ cup red wine
- 14.5 ozs diced tomatoes
- 2 cups beef broth, low sodium
- ¼ to ⅓ tsp red pepper flakes, depending on how spicy you want the sauce
- ½ tsp dried basil
- ½ tsp marjoram
- Pinch fennel seed
- 1 ½ lbs ziti or other short pasta (see note below about quantity)
- parmesan cheese for topping the pasta
Instructions
- Coat a large pan with oil spray, and heat on medium high. Add the sausage to brown, turning occasionally. Cook for about 5 minutes until browned. Remove the sausage from the pan, and set aside to cool.
- Add the olive oil to the same pan you cooked the sausage in, and heat on medium. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 more minute.
- Add the ground beef to the pan, and cook until it begins to brown, stirring occasionally. After about 5 minutes, stir in the red wine and cook until the wine has been mostly absorbed.
- Stir in the tomatoes and beef broth. Add the red pepper flakes, basil, marjoram. Bring to a simmer.
- Slice the sausage into small bite sized pieced, and stir the sausage into the sauce.
- Simmer the spicy Bolognese sauce for about an hour, uncovered, stirring occasionally.
- After the sauce has been simmering for about 30 minutes, begin cooking the pasta according to package directions.
- When the pasta is done, drain, and toss immediately with the spicy Bolognese sauce. Plate and serve topped with a generous amount of Parmesan cheese. Enjoy with a good glass of Italian red wine!
Notes
- If making this recipe for just a few people, you can start by cooking just 1 pound of pasta, and adding the desired amount of sauce. Cook some fresh pasta another night to enjoy with the leftover sauce.
- I try to use grass fed ground beef when possible, as it is higher in omega 3 fatty acids and other health benefits.
- I often use chicken or turkey sausage for a healthier sauce, but you can certainly go with a traditional pork sausage if you prefer. I like the Andouille for its garlicky flavor, but a spicy Italian sausage would certainly work well here too.
- You can adjust the amount of red pepper flakes based on the level of spiciness you like.
Find it online: https://cookingchatfood.com/spicy-bolognese/
