Rigatoni with sausage and fennel
Rigatoni con salsiccia e finocchietto
Southern Italian rigatoni with crumbled fennel-seed pork sausage, red wine and tomato, finished with pecorino and fennel fronds.
Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: Rigatoni con salsiccia e finocchietto.
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Rest
- None
- Total
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Spice
- Mild
- Cost
- Weeknight budget$8–16 USD · indicative, not a store price
About
This is southern Italian sausage pasta: fresh pork sausage seasoned with fennel seed, skinned and crumbled, browned with a little onion, splashed with red wine, then simmered with tomato until thick. Rigatoni catch the crumbs of meat inside their tubes. Pecorino goes on at the table, and a few feathery fennel fronds, wild fennel if you can get it, bring the anise back on top. There is no paprika, no pesto and no basket of extra herbs. Brown the sausage well before the wine goes in; the browned bits are the flavour. If the sausage is lean, add a spoon of oil. If it is mild, add a pinch of fennel seed and a little dried chilli.
What you'll need
11 ingredients. Tap each one once it's out on the bench.
Ingredients
- Rigatoni400 g
- Italian fennel sausages, skins removed, crumbled400 g
- Onion, finely chopped½ medium
- Olive oil30 ml
- Red wine100 ml
- Passata400 g
- Fennel seeds (optional)2½ ml
- Fresh chilli, dried peperoncino (optional)1 pinch
- Fennel bulb, fronds only, or wild fennel (optional)1 handful
- Pecorino Romano, grated, to serve40 g
- Salt4.9 ml
Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.
Steps
Step 1
Soften the onion in the oil. Add the crumbled sausage and fry, breaking it up, until well browned.
10 min
Step 2
Add the wine and let it bubble off. Add passata, fennel seed and chilli if using, and simmer until thick, about 25 minutes.
25 min
Step 3
Cook the rigatoni a minute short of al dente and finish them in the sauce with a splash of cooking water. Serve with pecorino and chopped fennel fronds.
14 min
Nutrition
Per serving · estimate
- Calories
- 504 kcal
- Protein
- 36.6 g
- Carbs
- 22.3 g
- Fat
- 28.9 g
- Saturated fat
- 9.2 g
- Fibre
- 3.3 g
- Sugar
- 4.8 g
- Sodium
- 858 mg
Calculated from canonical ingredient data (USDA FoodData Central averages and equivalent published tables). Estimates only.
Allergens
Informational only. Not a medical guarantee. Cross-contamination happens in real kitchens.
- Wheat
- Milk
- Nut-free
Adapt this recipe
The original recipe stays as it is. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are simple maths.
Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 13 November.
Substitutions
Pecorino → Caciocavallo, grated
Also southern, milder and sweeter.
Tips
- Taste the sausage first: if it is well seasoned, the sauce needs little salt.
- Leave out the tomato for the Sicilian in bianco version, using a little more wine.
History & culture
Fennel-seed sausage is the everyday pork of Sicily, Calabria and Puglia, sold by the metre at butcher counters. Sausage sugo is family Sunday cooking, and wild fennel grows on roadsides there in spring. In Sicily the same pasta is often made in bianco, without tomato.
Fennel seed has seasoned pork in southern Italy for centuries, partly to sweeten the meat and partly because the plant grows wild everywhere. Pasta with sausage sugo became common once dried pasta and tinned tomatoes were cheap, in the twentieth century.
Traditional — Sausage, onion, red wine, tomato, pecorino. No paprika or pesto.
Provenance: Editorial adaptation.
Questions about this recipe
Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips.
How long does Rigatoni with sausage and fennel take?
50 min all in — 10 min prep, 40 min cook. Cook and rest follow the method. Leftover storage and optional extra waits are not included.
How many does it serve?
The recipe is written for 4 plates. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.
How hard is it?
Easy.
How spicy is it?
Mild.
What allergens should I watch?
This recipe is labelled for Wheat, Milk. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.
Does it fit a diet?
The published recipe is labelled Nut-free.
6 more questionsFewer questions
What does it cost to cook?
Weeknight budget — about $8–16 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.
What equipment do I need?
Frying pan, Saucepan.
How much salt do I put in?
The recipe lists Salt at 1 tsp.
What can I use instead?
Pecorino → Caciocavallo, grated. Also southern, milder and sweeter.
Any tips from this recipe?
Taste the sausage first: if it is well seasoned, the sauce needs little salt. Leave out the tomato for the Sicilian in bianco version, using a little more wine.
Can I use an air fryer?
This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.
Similar dishes
Amatriciana
Guanciale, tomato and pecorino — the Roman-Amatrice pasta that is not a generic bacon-and-red-sauce.
Easy
Tagliatelle al ragù
Tagliatelle al ragù alla bolognese
Bologna's own ragù: beef and pancetta slow-cooked with white wine, milk and a little tomato, served on fresh egg tagliatelle. Never spaghetti.
Medium
Pasta alla Norma
Sicilian eggplant, tomato and salted ricotta — named for an opera, cooked like a Tuesday.
Easy