Spicy Italian Sausage Gnocchi Ragù Recipe

Spicy Italian Sausage Gnocchi Ragù. This is a recipe I make often, consisting of mostly pantry items, that my whole family loves and I am sure yours will as well. 

I love to make dishes that are simple in preparation but taste as if I had spent hours in the kitchen making something über gourmet. The key to simple but amazing recipes is always having quality ingredients on hand.

This spicy Italian sausage gnocchi ragù recipe consists of mostly pantry ingredients.

The sausage obviously isn't a pantry ingredient. Sausage should be stored in a refrigerator or freezer. Some people consider "pantry staples" to be anything in dry or cold storage.

I personally consider pantry as dry storage, anything that doesn't need refrigeration or freezing. 

The other great thing about this recipe besides just being a handful of ingredients is that it can be made all in one pot or pan.

I make it in two only because I like to cook the gnocchi and use some of the cooking water to thin the sauce a little but you don't have to do that. I will detail it all throughout this post and in the recipe card. 

Ingredients for Spicy Italian Sausage Gnocchi Ragu:

• Italian sausage. You can use packaged or links. If you use links, remove from casing. You can use sweet, spicy or mild. We get a pork share from Christiansen's Farm in Utah. Super high quality. 
• Gnocchi. I always have a few packages of gnocchi in my pantry. My favorite is from Delallo, even though something different is pictured here. LOL. Cooks fast, easy to use in a variety of recipes. Feel free to used gluten free if you like.
• Olive oil. I use the good stuff. Luigi Tega from Italy. I won't use any other kind. 
• Shallots. I always have a basket of shallots, along with red, yellow, sweet and white onions. Shallots have such a great flavor when caramelized. 
• Garlic. Another pantry staple. I prefer fresh garlic for this recipe since it gets cooked with the shallots. You could sub in garlic powder but it won't taste the exact same
• Tomato paste. I have a case in my pantry. I use it all the the time for sauces, meatballs, you name it. It adds a richness to ragu, marinara and bolognese that I love. 
• Passata. Aka tomato sauce/puree. Always have this on hand as well. We make a lot of tomato based dishes for dinner so this is another ingredient I am never without
• Spices. Basil, oregano, parsley. I used dried here since they are pantry/spice shelf staples. Rub in hands before adding to pan. Releases oils for more flavor
• Red pepper flakes. My go-to for added heat in recipes. If you use hot Italian sausage, use less red pepper flakes unless you want really spicy.
• Red wine. I use a red blend since its a more mild wine. All good Italian tomato base sauces have wine in them. I love reds for their richness
• Fish sauce. Red Boat fish sauce. My "secret" ingredient to umami-richness in many of my recipes. 

The key to getting maximum flavor out of simple ingredients is how you cook them. Caramelizing onions or shallots is one of the best ways to get extra flavor, richness and sweetness out of them. I don't caramelize fully for this recipe since that takes a lot long than I like for a quick-ish weekday meal, but I do cook them long enough to where they start to become darker brown and jammy.

I have made this recipe a few different ways. Sometimes I add the tomato paste and red wine to the shallots and garlic first, sometimes I add the sausage first. Either way works just fine. I prefer making sure the sausage is mostly cooked before adding other ingredients and its easier to tell without the tomato paste and red wine added before its cooked. 

Ragu is meant to be a thicker sauce, but I like to thin it with just a little with pasta water. The Gnocchi is only cooked for a little bit so it doesn't have quite the starch content as if I was cooking traditional pasta, so if you want to add the gnocchi to the pan to make it a one pan meal, add in a little broth instead of water. 

Gnocchi. I love them. My kid's got to have freshly made gnocchi when we dined at Eataly last year here in Vegas. They watched one of the chef's make them from scratch before cooking and adding a simple tomato sauce, a little fresh parm and basil. They were amazing. I had never had freshly made gnocchi before. Melt in your mouth amazing.

For this recipe I use packaged gnocchi. Shelf stable and always have on hand. You can make your own from scratch if you like. 

What is ragù? What is the difference between ragù, marinara and bolognese?

Ragù is a thick Italian meat sauce served with pasta. Ragù is typically made with red wine, and doesn't always contain tomatoes, but often can. If it does use tomatoes or tomato sauce it is usually a smaller amount, around a cup, or 8 ounces, compared to bolognese or marinara where more tomatoes or tomato sauce is used.

Ragu is most typically served with spaghetti noodles, I like to use it with a variety of pasta shapes and noodles as well as gnocchi. 

The difference between ragù, marinara and bolognese are only a few minor things. Marinara is a meatless sauce, bolognese tends to have more tomatoes in it, tomato sauce in particular. All of these sauces often  start with soffrito, or carrot, onion and celery dice.

I don't use celery, onion or carrot in this recipe, but I have before with equally amazing results.  The biggest difference with marinara is the lack of meat, the biggest difference between ragù and bolognese really is the ratio and amount of ingredients. 

Ragù is also typically cooked for a long period of time to develop richness and deep flavors. I can get those flavors out of a shorter cook with a few tricks like caramelizing the shallots, using a good amount of tomato paste, and adding in fish sauce. 

A few notes about this Spicy Italian Sausage Gnocchi Ragù recipe first:

• This recipe makes 4 servings. It can be easily doubled or tripled for more servings. Use a much bigger pan or even a dutch oven for more servings
• This recipe can be stored in an airtight container and keeps well for a day or two for leftovers. I haven't made it and frozen it so I cannot tell you how well it thaws and reheats that way. 
• I use mild sausage but have used spicy and sweet in the past. If you use spicy, use less red pepper flakes. Taste the recipe once cooked, add more flakes if you like even more heat
• You can substitute any pasta you like in place of the gnocchi. Feel free to use gluten free pasta as well if you like
• I use Red Boat fish sauce. It can be found at any well stocked Asian or international market. I have even found it sold at Trader Joe's.

Spicy Italian Sausage Gnocchi Ragu Recipe

Shanna

A rich, spicy ragù with Italian sausage served over melt in your mouth, soft potato gnocchi. Made with pantry staples, this meal is perfect for weeknights.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Additional Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 50 minutes mins

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

  

• 2 tablespoon high quality olive oil I use Luigi Tega
• 4 shallots peeled, quartered and slices ( about 1 cup)
• 4 garlic cloves peeled and thinly sliced
• 1 lb Italian sausage packaged or in links(spicy, sweet or mild)
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 3 tablespoon tomato paste ) 1.5 ounces
• ½ cup red wine 4 ounces
• 1 cup passata smooth tomato puree(8 ounces)
• ½ teaspoon fish sauce Red Boat
• 1 lb Gnocchi

Garnish:

• Fresh basil
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese
• additional red pepper flakes
• Drizzle of chili pepper oil

Instructions

 

• Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat add the olive oil, once hot add the shallots, reduce heat to medium low. Stirring occasionally, cook the shallots until starting to caramelize, 10-15 minutes. Add in the sliced garlic and cook for another 5 minutes until the garlic starts to caramelize as well.
• Add in the sausage, to the shallots in the pan, if using links remove from casings, stir to crumble the sausage, increase heat to medium-high. Add in the herbs, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Stir.  When the sausage is about halfway cooked around 5-6 minutes, add in the tomato paste and stir well then add in the wine. Cook until the wine is starting to reduce, another 2-3 minutes.
• Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat add the olive oil, once hot add the shallots, reduce heat to medium low. Stirring occasionally, cook the shallots until starting to caramelize, 10-15 minutes. Add in the sliced garlic and cook for another 5 minutes until the garlic starts to caramelize as well.
• Add in the sausage, to the shallots in the pan, if using links remove from casings, stir to crumble the sausage, increase heat to medium-high. Add in the herbs, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Stir.  When the sausage is about halfway cooked around 5-6 minutes, add in the tomato paste and stir well then add in the wine. Cook until the wine is starting to reduce, another 2-3 minutes.
• While the sausage is cooking, bring a pot of salted water to a boil but don’t add in the gnocchi just yet. 
• Add in the passata, or pureed tomato sauce, and fish sauce to the sausage mixture. Stir well until the pork is fully cooked, around 5 more minutes.  Cook the gnocchi in the boiling salted water until they start to float to the surface, about 3 minutes, no longer. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the gnocchi to the pan with the pork mixture. Reserve a cup of the salted water. 
• Gently stir the gnocchi until it is all covered with sauce. If you desire a thinner sauce add in the reserved salted water a few tablespoons at a time. Ragu is a thicker sauce so this is an optional step if you want a thinner sauce. 
• Serve with thinly sliced fresh basil and freshly grated parmesan. Optional - add a little more red pepper flakes and a drizzle of chili pepper oil for more heat.

Notes

This recipe makes 4 servings. It can be easily doubled or tripled for more servings. Use a much bigger pan or even a dutch oven for more servings

This recipe can be stored in an airtight container and keeps well for a day or two for leftovers. I haven't made it and frozen it so I cannot tell you how well it thaws and reheats that way. 

I use mild sausage but have used spicy and sweet in the past. If you use spicy, use less red pepper flakes. Taste the recipe once cooked, add more flakes if you like even more heat

You can substitute any pasta you like in place of the gnocchi. Feel free to use gluten free pasta as well if you like

I use Red Boat fish sauce. It can be found at any well stocked Asian or international market. I have even found it sold at Trader Joe's.

If you want to make this in one pot, add in the gnocchi to the pan towards the end of cooking. Thin the sauce with either water or broth if desired