An ultra-simple, creamy pasta dish with Italian salsiccia sausage, white wine, Parmesan and cream. Just a handful of ingredients, straightforward and full of flavour – and so creamy and wonderful.
This pasta dish, pasta alla Norcina, comes from the town of Norcia in Umbria in Italy.
Pasta alla Norcina is traditionally made with pecorino, a cheese similar to Parmesan but sharper in flavour. Personally I prefer Parmesan, but if you would rather use pecorino, you can of course do that. In that case I would suggest starting with 50-60 g, since it is the more robust of the two, and then adjusting to taste.
The dish is most often made with penne, which is why it is also known as Penne alla Norcina. And the type of pasta you use actually does matter for how well the sauce clings to it. So choose a pasta with a bit of texture – ridged penne (penne rigate) are ideal here.
I use the ones from Rummo – their pasta is excellent.
Pasta alla Norcina – Pasta with salsiccia, white wine and cream
Ingredients
- 500 g pasta
- 300 g salsiccia (Italian fresh pork sausage – if the pack is 400 g, that is fine too)
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, grated or crushed
- 250 ml whipping cream (38% fat)
- 150 ml white wine
- 100 g Parmesan, finely grated – *see the introduction about pecorino
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Pasta cooking water
- Oil
Method
- Bring a large pan of well-salted water to the boil and cook the pasta until al dente.
- Meanwhile, heat a little oil in a frying pan and fry the shallot and garlic for a couple of minutes.
- Remove the casings from the sausages and crumble the meat into the pan.Fry over fairly high heat, stirring now and then, until the meat starts to brown.
- Pour in the white wine and let it reduce slightly, then add the cream and season with pepper.*Leave the sauce over medium heat while the pasta finishes cooking.
- Lift the pasta straight from the cooking water into the pan and toss it with the sauce.
- Add the Parmesan and stir it into the sauce, then adjust the consistency with a little pasta cooking water.
- Season to taste with pepper – salt should not be needed – and let the dish stand over very low heat for a minute or so to come together.*The starch from the pasta will make the sauce thicken and cling to the pasta, so you may need to add a little more pasta cooking water just before serving.
- Serve topped with freshly ground pepper and a sprinkling of Parmesan, if you like.
Nutrition
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Hejsa
Ej hvor er det dejligt at høre altså – tusind tak 🙂
Warm wishes, Dianna
Super lækkert. Friske kantareller med et strejf af god bacon gør det ikke ringere
Hej Peter
Ej det lyder virkelig også lækkert – tak for at dele dit tip 🙂
Warm wishes, Dianna
Kan man undlade hvidvin og mere flød eller bouillon og hvor meget af det
Nemt, lækkert og virkeligt velsmagende- vær 0bs på ikke at bruge for meget fløde:)
Hej Karl
Dejligt den smagte dig – tusind tak :
Dbh Dianna
Dejlig ret – jeg havde åbenbart ikke hvidløg, så jeg brugte hvidløgsolie. Desuden var der trøffel i min salsiccia, hvilket bestemt ikke gjorde noget.
Hej Maja
Ej hvor gør det mig glad at høre, tusind tak for de søde ord 🙂
Warm wishes, Dianna
Sikke en dejlig ret! Jeg serverede den med en håndfuld rucola på toppen, det var heller ikke dumt.
Hej Lise
Åh hvor dejligt at høre altså, tusind tak for din besked 🙂
Warm wishes, Dianna
Sindssygt lækker og nem ret, vi er vilde med den
Hej Tina
Ej hvor fedt at høre, tak altså 🙂
Warm wishes, Dianna