Italian ragu with meatballs and sausage is a hearty and flavorful dish that is perfect for a special occasion or a casual weeknight meal. This classic Italian dish is made with a rich tomato sauce, tender meatballs, and savory sausage. The combination of flavors and textures in this dish is sure to please everyone at the table.
Here are our top 7 tried and tested recipes!
ITALIAN MEATBALLS AND SAUSAGES
Here's a wonderful appetizer for the big game or any family function. Very easy to prepare and also very tasty. I've doubled and even tripled the recipe for large to huge groups. No matter how much I make, I always come home with an empty slow cooker. -Jan Kasinger, Graham, Washington
Provided by Taste of Home
Categories Appetizers
Time 4h10m
Yield 8 cups.
Number Of Ingredients 5
Steps:
- Combine all ingredients in a 4- or 5-qt. slow cooker. Cook, covered, on low until heated through, 4-6 hours, stirring every hour.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 200 calories, Fat 16g fat (6g saturated fat), Cholesterol 29mg cholesterol, Sodium 663mg sodium, Carbohydrate 4g carbohydrate (1g sugars, Fiber 1g fiber), Protein 9g protein.
MEATBALL-SAUSAGE SUBS
Provided by Food Network Kitchen
Time 8h30m
Yield 6 to 8 servings
Number Of Ingredients 14
Steps:
- Combine the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaves and parmesan rind in a 6-quart slow cooker. Add 1 cup water, 1/4 cup parsley, 2 chopped garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper.
- Combine the breadcrumbs and milk in a medium bowl; soak 2 minutes. In a separate bowl, combine the beef, eggs, 1 cup parmesan, the remaining 1/4 cup parsley and 2 chopped garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add the breadcrumb-milk mixture and mix with your hands until combined. With damp hands, shape into 24 meatballs, about 1 1/2 inches each; transfer to the slow cooker.
- Add the sausage pieces to the slow cooker, then cover and cook on low, 7 hours. Remove the bay leaves and parmesan rind and stir in the remaining 1/2 cup parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Serve on the bread and top with mozzarella.
SUNDAY SAUCE WITH BRACIOLE, MEATBALLS, AND SAUSAGE
No crowd to feed? No problem. Sunday Sauce freezes well; just make sure any braciole, meatballs, or sausages are submerged in sauce.
Provided by Dawn Perry
Categories Freezer Food Pasta Beef Tomato Parmesan Meatball Sausage Breadcrumbs Ground Beef Oregano Dinner Potluck
Yield 6-8 servings
Number Of Ingredients 35
Steps:
- Make the sauce:
- Purée onions and garlic in a food processor until very finely chopped.
- Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy ovenproof pot over medium-high. Cook onion mixture and 1/2 tsp. salt, stirring often, until liquid is evaporated and bits on bottom of pot are beginning to brown, 10-12 minutes. Add tomato paste, oregano, and red pepper flakes; cook, stirring, until slightly darker in color, about 2 minutes more. Add 1/2 cup water and cook, scraping up browned bits from bottom of pot. Add tomatoes and their juices and 1 cup water; stir to combine. Stir in basil, season with pepper and remaining 1 tsp. salt, and bring to a simmer. Keep warm, stirring occasionally, until ready to use.
- Make the breadcrumb mixture:
- Combine cheese, parsley, breadcrumbs, and garlic in a medium bowl.
- Prepare the braciole:
- Preheat oven to 300°F. Lay beef flat on a work surface; season with 3/4 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Sprinkle evenly with 1/2 cup breadcrumb mixture. Working one at a time and starting at the short end, roll up beef, then tie in a few places with butcher's twine to secure. Season braciole with remaining 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper.
- Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Working in batches and adding remaining 1 Tbsp. oil to skillet as needed, cook braciole, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch.
- Transfer braciole to pot with sauce, cover, and bake 1 1/2 hours. Wipe out skillet and reserve.
- Prepare the meatballs and sausage:
- Mix ground beef, eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and remaining 1 1/4 cups breadcrumb mixture with a fork in a medium bowl. Shape into 12 (1 1/2") balls.
- Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in reserved skillet. Working in batches, cook meatballs, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch; transfer to a plate. Working in batches and adding remaining 1 Tbsp. oil to skillet as needed, cook sausages, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer to plate.
- After braciole has baked 1 1/2 hours, using tongs, gently lower meatballs and sausages into sauce. Cover pot and continue to bake until braciole is very tender and meatballs and sausages are cooked through, 25-30 minutes more.
- To serve:
- Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente. Transfer sausages, meatballs, and braciole to a platter; remove strings from braciole. Spoon some warm sauce over.
- Drain pasta and toss with as little or as much sauce as you like. Serve topped with Parmesan.
- Do Ahead
- Sauce can be made 3 days ahead; cover and chill, or freeze up to 6 months. Braciole, meatballs, and sausages can be made 3 days ahead; submerge in sauce, cover, and chill, or freeze up to 3 months.
TUSCAN SAUSAGE RAGU
A thick, rich meat sauce excellent with rigatoni, rotelle or any other thick pasta.
Provided by TerryWilson
Categories Side Dish Sauces and Condiments Recipes Sauce Recipes Pasta Sauce Recipes Tomato
Time 6h35m
Yield 10
Number Of Ingredients 11
Steps:
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir the sweet and hot Italian sausage until browned, about 10 minutes. Break the meat up into crumbles as it cooks. Stir in the onion, celery, and garlic; cook and stir until the onion is translucent, about 8 more minutes. Pour the mixture into a slow cooker. Pour red wine into the skillet, and stir to dissolve the brown flavor bits from the bottom of the skillet. Pour the wine into the slow cooker. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and salt to taste. Mix well.
- Cover the slow cooker, set to Low, and cook for 5 hours. Pour in the cream, stir, cover, and cook for 1 more hour. Adjust salt again if necessary, and serve.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 370 calories, Carbohydrate 11.8 g, Cholesterol 74.9 mg, Fat 28.3 g, Fiber 2.3 g, Protein 14.8 g, SaturatedFat 11.7 g, Sodium 1241.3 mg, Sugar 6.4 g
ITALIAN SPAGHETTI SAUCE WITH SAUSAGE AND MEATBALLS
This is one of my favorite recipes to make for friends when we have them over for dinner. Italian is casual, simple to make and inexpensive. Start this early in the day, let it simmer for a few hours and right before the guests arrive, boil your pasta, toast the garlic bread and toss up a Caesar salad...nothing else could be so simple. This recipe makes a full 6 quarts so it will feed an army. It freezes very well so I package the leftovers in containers for simple and delicious weekday meals.
Provided by Carrie September
Categories Sauces
Time 4h
Yield 6 quarts
Number Of Ingredients 16
Steps:
- Cut the sausage links in half and place them into a 6 quart stock pot.
- Add the olive oil and garlic, stir to coat; brown on medium heat stirring often to keep them from burning.
- Add the tomato sauce, puree, basil, oregano and salt to the browned sausage and reduce heat to low; cover and slow simmer.
- MEATBALLS.
- Mix ground beef, breadcrumbs, milk, Worcestershire and eggs together in a bowl.
- Shape meatballs into size of your choice and place into a shallow glass baking pan.
- Preheat oven to 400°F and bake meatballs from 20-40 minutes depending upon size.
- Add meatballs to the sauce and let simmer for 3 hours;stir occasionally and skim the fat off the top so the sauce is not greasy when it is done.
- Add the tomato paste 1 hour before the sauce is done to thicken it up.
- 1/2 hour after adding the tomato paste test the sauce; if it is too sweet from the paste add the beef base to counteract the sweetness--if not, leave this out and enjoy!
Nutrition Facts : Calories 1497.7, Fat 83, SaturatedFat 30, Cholesterol 328, Sodium 5382.9, Carbohydrate 92.6, Fiber 15.5, Sugar 38.8, Protein 101.8
ITALIAN TOMATO SAUSAGE RAGU WITH PENNE
I use Chianti wine for this recipe but any good dry red wine will do, this can be made using a mixture of ground beef and pork but Italian sausage meat is so much better --- if possible prepare this a day ahead and refrigerate to allow flavors to blend just rewarm on top of the stove
Provided by Kittencalrecipezazz
Categories Penne
Time 1h40m
Yield 6 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 15
Steps:
- In a large skillet heat oil over medium heat.
- Add in the sausage meat, garlic, oregano and pepper flakes; sauté until brown, breaking up the meat with a fork (about 7 minutes).
- Add in finely chopped carrots, onion and celery; sauté for about 10 minutes.
- Mix in chopped tomatoes; reduce heat, cover and simmer about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add in 1 cup broth and wine; simmer uncovered until liquid is slightly reduced (about 20 minutes).
- Add in the fresh basil; cover and simmer until the veggies are very tender, stirring occasionally.
- Continue to simmer for about 45-50 minutes, adding in more broth by about 1/4 cup if the liquid evaporates to quickly, and cook until the Ragu thickens to desired consistency.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until just firm-tender; drain but reserve about 1/2 cup cooking water.
- Return the pasta to the pot; add in the Ragu; mix to combine.
- Add in about 1/2 - 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese and 2-3 tablespoons olive oil; mix to combine.
- If the mixture seems too dry then add in some of the reserved cooking water from the pasta.
- Season with more salt and pepper.
- Divide on plates and top with more cheese.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 650, Fat 33.6, SaturatedFat 11.4, Cholesterol 54.6, Sodium 1391.4, Carbohydrate 59.4, Fiber 8.9, Sugar 6, Protein 27.4
EASY ITALIAN SAUSAGE SPAGHETTI
The flavor of spaghetti and meatballs, without the hassle of making meatballs!
Provided by jenmannaz
Categories World Cuisine Recipes European Italian
Time 1h15m
Yield 12
Number Of Ingredients 15
Steps:
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir sausage, mushrooms, onion, green bell pepper, and garlic in the hot oil until sausage is browned and crumbly, about 20 minutes; drain and discard grease.
- Stir tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and olives into sausage mixture; season with oregano, basil, and salt. Simmer mixture until flavors infuse, about 30 minutes.
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook spaghetti in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 12 minutes. Drain and transfer to a serving bowl; top with tomato-sausage sauce and Parmesan cheese.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 414.3 calories, Carbohydrate 44.6 g, Cholesterol 31.2 mg, Fat 18.5 g, Fiber 5.2 g, Protein 19.6 g, SaturatedFat 5.8 g, Sodium 1580.5 mg, Sugar 10.3 g
Tips:
- Use high-quality ingredients: Fresh, flavorful ingredients will make a big difference in the final dish. Look for ripe tomatoes, sweet onions, and flavorful sausage and meatballs.
- Brown the meat and sausage well: This will help to develop flavor and prevent the meat from becoming dry.
- Simmer the sauce for at least 1 hour: This will allow the flavors to meld and develop.
- Use a variety of herbs and spices: Oregano, basil, thyme, and rosemary are all classic Italian herbs that will add flavor to the sauce.
- Serve the ragu over pasta, polenta, or rice: This is a versatile dish that can be served with a variety of sides.
Conclusion:
Italian ragu with meatballs and sausage is a hearty and flavorful dish that is perfect for a family meal. With a few simple tips, you can make a delicious ragu that will impress your friends and family. So next time you're looking for a comforting and satisfying meal, give this Italian ragu a try. You won't be disappointed!
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