Penne with Sausage and Cream(Penne alla Norcina)

The Three Things That Matter

Use good Italian sausage. This is a 5-ingredient dish, so the sausage is the dominant flavor. Buy it from an Italian butcher if you can, or use a quality brand from the grocery store. Sweet or hot both work, depending on preference. Avoid pre-cooked or low-fat sausage, you need the fat for the sauce.

Render the sausage thoroughly. Brown the crumbled sausage until it’s deeply golden, not just cooked through. About 10 minutes. The rendered fat becomes part of the sauce. If you rush this step, the sauce tastes flat.

Don’t boil the cream. Once the cream goes in, keep the heat at medium. A hard simmer breaks the cream and produces a grainy sauce. Two to three minutes of gentle bubbling is all you need to thicken it.

Penne with Sausage and Cream Recipe

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4 from 1 review

• Total Time: 25 mins
• Yield: 4-6 1x

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Ingredients

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• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, sliced thin
• 1 pound crumbled sweet Italian sausage meat (stuffing from 4 links)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 pound penne pasta
• freshly grated Parmagianno-Reggiano cheese

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Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a medium sautè pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and sautè, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until softened and translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Add sausage meat and cook, stirring occasionally until sausage is browned approximately 10 minutes.
3. Add the cream, salt and pepper, and cook until the sauce has thickened, 2-3 minutes. Take the sauce off the heat.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the penne. Cook uncovered over high heat until al dente and drain.
5. Place the pan with the sauce back over medium heat, add the pasta to the pan and toss until well coated.
6. Serve with grated Parmagianno-Reggiano cheese on the side.

• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Substitutions

• Sweet vs. hot Italian sausage. Sweet is the more traditional choice for Penne alla Norcina. Hot works well if you want a kick. A 50/50 mix is also great. Don’t use breakfast sausage; the spice profile is wrong.
• Heavy cream vs. half-and-half vs. milk. Heavy cream is correct and what gives the sauce its body. Half-and-half works in a pinch but the sauce will be thinner. Milk doesn’t have enough fat to stabilize, the sauce will likely break.
• Add fresh sage. A traditional Umbrian addition. Two or three fresh sage leaves, finely chopped, added with the cream. Subtle but distinctive.
• Add mushrooms. The most traditional Penne alla Norcina variation. Sauté sliced cremini or porcini mushrooms with the onion before adding the sausage. In Norcia they’d use black truffles instead, but mushrooms are the everyday version.
• A splash of dry white wine. Add ½ cup after the sausage browns and let it reduce by half before adding the cream. Adds depth without changing the character of the dish.
• Sausage from links vs. bulk sausage. Use bulk sausage if you can find it, faster and cleaner. Removing the meat from links is fine too; just slit the casing with a knife and squeeze the meat out.

Variations

Classic Penne alla Norcina (Umbrian style). Add 8 ounces of sliced cremini or porcini mushrooms with the onion. A few fresh sage leaves with the cream. This is the version you’d get in a Norcia trattoria.

Pink sauce version. Add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste with the cream, or substitute ½ cup of crushed San Marzano tomatoes. Less traditional but loved by many home cooks.

With farfalle instead of penne. A reader (Josh) commented that he had this dish in Bologna with farfalle, and it works beautifully. The bowtie shape catches the cream nicely.

FAQ

What’s this dish called in Italian?
Penne alla Norcina. It’s named for Norcia, a town in Umbria famous for its cured meats and sausages. The “alla Norcina” naming convention shows up on a few Umbrian pasta dishes that feature the local pork tradition.

Can I use a lower-fat substitute for the heavy cream?
Half-and-half works in a pinch but produces a thinner, less stable sauce. Whole milk usually breaks because there isn’t enough fat to hold the emulsion. If you want a lighter version, use ½ cup heavy cream plus ½ cup whole milk. The result is decent. Skim milk or fat-free options won’t work at all.

Should I use sweet or hot Italian sausage?
Sweet is more traditional for Penne alla Norcina. Hot adds a nice kick if you want it. A 50/50 mix is also common in Italian-American kitchens. Pick what your family likes.

What pasta works best for this dish?
Penne is excellent because the ridges and tubes hold the cream sauce. Rigatoni, mezzi rigatoni, and farfalle (bowtie) all work too. Skip long pasta like spaghetti or linguine, the cream sauce doesn’t cling to them well.

Can I add tomatoes for a pink sauce version?
Yes. Two tablespoons of tomato paste added with the cream gives you a Penne alla Norcina with a pink hue and a touch more brightness. Less traditional but popular with home cooks.

Is the traditional Norcina version supposed to have truffles?
The Norcia version does. Black truffles are a local product. Outside of Italy, sliced cremini or porcini mushrooms are the everyday substitute and work very well.

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