If there's one thing about me, it's that I truly love pasta. I crave it. Almost weekly. And I'm always trying to find new ways to enjoy it. Using whipped ricotta in pasta seemed like a great idea to me, and so this ricotta and sausage pasta was born. If you also love pasta and ricotta, then I'm sure you're going to love this version. Filled with hearty ingredients like cannellini beans, chicken sausage, shallots and radicchio, it has a lot going on, in a good way. Although there is some prep work involved with this recipe, it's fairly straightforward to make and you only need one pot and one skillet for everything!

Ingredients

Here's everything you'll need to make this pasta with sausage and ricotta cheese.

• extra virgin olive oil
• chicken sausages
• rigatoni
• shallot
• radicchio
• cannellini beans (canned)
• garlic
• dry white wine (or dry vermouth)
• whipped ricotta
• parmesan cheese
• lemon zest
• parsley (optional)

How to Make This Pasta with Ricotta & Sausage

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the oil. Once warm, add the sausage and cook, crumbling with the back of a spoon. Brown the sausage, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, about ten to 12 minutes total.

Remove the cooked sausage with a slotted spoon and set aside in a bowl.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water until al dente, and reserve pasta water and set aside. Toss the pasta with a drizzle of olive oil to avoid it sticking.

In the same skillet over medium-low heat, add the shallot (adding oil, if needed to avoid sticking). Cook, stirring often, until softened and starting to brown around the edges, about five minutes.

Add the radicchio and cook for one minute and then add the garlic and cook for one minute, stirring often. Add the beans and season with salt and pepper.

Deglaze the skillet with the wine (or vermouth) and cook, until reduced, about one to two minutes.

Add the sausage back into the skillet and toss to combine. Turn the heat to low just to keep warm.

Pour the pasta into the pot you cooked it in. Turn the heat to medium-low and add half the pasta water along with the ricotta, parmesan and lemon zest. Toss until the pasta is starting to get coated.

Add the sausage mixture into the pasta and keep tossing until everything is combined, adding more pasta water as needed to loosen. Season with salt and pepper.

Garnish with parsley and red pepper flakes and serve. Enjoy!

Cooking Tips

• Choose a flavourful sausage: this will add lots of flavour to the dish, so I'd recommend getting a high quality chicken sausage that has other ingredients in it like scallions, garlic, spices and herbs.
• Scrape up the skillet: once you add the wine (or broth) to deglaze, scrape up any browned bits from the bottom, this has so much flavour!
• Fresh ricotta: although it's not necessary, I've tried making whipped ricotta with both the regular tubs and fresh ricotta. Fresh ricotta wins every time. It just tastes better and I think it whips a little nicer and becomes fluffier. A full fat, or whole milk ricotta will also taste best, so I would encourage you to use that. The ingredient list should be simple without added gums or stabilizers. I purchase mine from a market in Toronto that sells fresh ricotta. You should be able to find a high quality, fresh ricotta at an Italian grocery store, speciality cheese store and some well stocked grocery stores.
• Whip the ricotta: I personally like to whip the ricotta and use that as opposed to regular ricotta. The whipped ricotta will create a smoother consistency, sauce and overall appearance.
• Use a food processor: this is the easiest appliance to use to make whipped ricotta. A blender will also work, but it's a pain to clean, so I recommend a food processor, this is the one I use at home. If it's not super smooth after blending, you can add a tiny drizzle of olive oil.
• Don't skip the zest: the lemon zest helps to brighten everything up, so please don't skip it.
• Brown the sausage: for extra flavour, I like to brown the sausage. To do this, add the sausage to the skillet and let it sit over medium-high heat, undisturbed. Seriously, don't touch it! Turn a piece over and see if it's browned, then flip and break it apart. This works with a chicken/turkey sausage if it's made with dark meat, not white meat, and of course with pork as well.

Substitutions

• Sausage: feel free to use chicken, turkey, or pork sausage. You can also use ground meat instead, just add some spices and/or herbs to it. Anything like, thyme, rosemary, garlic, chili flakes would all be great.
• Cannellini beans: you can omit them if you don't have, or use another white bean like butter beans, or even chickpeas.
• Radicchio: you can omit this, I just like adding in some more veggies. Chopped escarole, arugula, kale or dandelion greens would all be great too.
• White wine: I usually use dry vermouth because I never have white wine on hand. You can use a splash of chicken broth if you don't have/want to use alcohol.
• Pasta shape: this would work with other pasta like penne, orecchiette, or ziti.

Ingredients & Products I Recommend:

Stainless steel skillet:

I love my Made In stainless steel skillets so much. I have the 8", 10" and 12" stainless steel pans and I use them all the time in my kitchen. Their products are great quality and so long as you take care of them and follow their care instructions, they'll last forever.  

Kosher salt:

I exclusively use Diamond Crystal kosher salt for all of my recipes. I prefer the texture, taste and consistency of this brand and highly recommend it for everyday cooking.

More Pasta Recipes to Try:

I really, really love noodles and pasta, so be sure to check out these other fun recipes!

• Ravioli with Creamy Spinach Pesto Sauce
• Creamy Gochujang Pasta
• Vietnamese Bolognese (Bo Kho inspired)
• Creamy Dairy-Free & Vegan Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce
• Sungold & Saffron Tomato Pasta
• Air Fryer Gnocchi with Burst Tomato Sauce
• Harissa Pasta with Burrata
• Pan Fried Gnocchi with Sage & Brown Butter
• Easy Miso Carbonara
• Chili Crisp Noodles
• Pasta with Burrata and Sausage
• Soba Noodles with Peanut Sauce and Crunchy Celery
• Healthy Pad Thai
• Chicken Noodle Salad with Thai Bang-Bang Sauce

Are you ready to make this? Let's get to it!

As always, if you make this pasta with sausage and ricotta cheese please share with me, by tagging me on Instagram or leave a comment and/or review below. I truly love seeing and hearing form you!

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