Italian Sausage in Vodka Mascarpone Sauce — Bold, Rich, and Unforgettable

Authentic Italian Gourmet Pasta Sauce. No Added Sugar. Ever.

If you want to make vodka sauce more substantial — more of a meal and less of a side dish — Italian sausage is the answer. The fennel and spice of the sausage play against the creamy, tomato-rich mascarpone sauce in a way that's bold, satisfying, and deeply Italian.

Albanese's Finest Vodka Mascarpone — made with real mascarpone, premium tomatoes, and no added sugar — is the authentic Italian gourmet pasta sauce that makes this dish extraordinary. The richness of the mascarpone tames the heat of the sausage, while the bright tomato keeps everything balanced.

• 1 lb Italian sausage (sweet, hot, or a mix), casings removed
• 1 jar Albanese's Finest Vodka Mascarpone sauce (24 oz)
• 1 lb rigatoni or penne
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ¼ cup dry white wine (optional)
• ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• Fresh basil
• Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Kosher salt
• Reserved pasta water

Step 1 — Brown the sausage. Heat olive oil in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Cook until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Leave the fat in the pan.

Step 2 — Sauté aromatics. Reduce heat to medium. Add diced onion to the pan and cook 3–4 minutes until softened. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook another 60 seconds.

Step 3 — Deglaze (optional). Add white wine and let it bubble and reduce by half, scraping up any browned bits.

Step 4 — Add the sauce. Pour in the Vodka Mascarpone sauce. Stir to combine. Return the sausage to the pan. Simmer over medium-low heat for 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 5 — Cook the pasta. Boil pasta in heavily salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta water before draining.

Step 6 — Combine and serve. Add drained pasta to the sauce and toss over medium heat, adding pasta water as needed. Plate and top with fresh basil and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Sweet vs. hot sausage. Sweet Italian sausage lets the mascarpone sauce shine. Hot Italian sausage adds heat that plays beautifully against the creaminess. A 50/50 mix is the best of both worlds.

Don't drain the sausage fat. The rendered fat from the sausage is flavor. Sauté the aromatics in it and let it become part of the sauce.

Let it simmer. The 8–10 minutes of simmering with the sausage is what makes this dish. The sausage flavors the sauce and the sauce flavors the sausage.

Variations

Sausage Vodka with Peppers: Add sliced bell peppers (red and yellow) with the onion for a sausage-and-peppers vodka pasta.

Sausage Vodka with Fennel: Add ½ cup of thinly sliced fennel with the onion. The fennel echoes the fennel in the sausage and adds a subtle anise note.

About the Sauce

Albanese's Finest Vodka Mascarpone is made with real mascarpone — the Italian cream cheese that gives this sauce its signature richness. No added sugar means the tomato flavor comes through clean and bright. It's the authentic Italian gourmet pasta sauce that makes sausage vodka pasta taste like the real thing.

No added sugar. Small-batch. Founder-made.

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