Gorgonzola Cream Sauce Pasta

Gorgonzola cream sauce pasta with sausage and peas is loaded with wonderful flavors and textures.  Simple to make with just a few ingredients, this decadent pasta can be on your table in about 30 minutes.

There is something so comforting about pasta with creamy gorgonzola sauce. 

It’s rich in flavor and the addition of crumbled Italian sausage and bright green peas adds wonderful texture variety to this dish.

Since creamy gorgonzola pasta with sausage and peas is so easy to make it is right up with there with some of the best weeknight pastas that taste more complicated than they are, like linguine al limone or shrimp Alfredo.

So if you’re short on time but still want a decadent pasta, read on for our step-by-step instructions, and our top tips.

How to make it

Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.

1. Bring a large pot of salted water (2 tablespoons of kosher salt per gallon of water) to boil.  Chop 3 medium-sized shallots and mince 3 tablespoons of parsley.
2. Heat a very large pan to medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and saute 1 pound of bulk Italian sausage until browned and cooked through (about 7 minutes).  Remove the sausage from the pan and set it aside on a plate covered with foil.

3. Once your water is boiling, add 1 pound of rigatoni or other tubular pasta such as penne, ziti, or paccheri.  Cook the pasta to 1 minute less than al dente and be sure to reserve 2 cups of pasta water, although you may not need it all.  Note: We recommend using a pasta spider and saving all the pasta water when preparing any of our pasta recipes.
4. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the chopped shallots and saute until soft, about 4-5 minutes. 
5. Once the shallots are soft, add 8 ounces of frozen peas, 1 cup of heavy cream, and 6 ounces of gorgonzola dolce. Bring the sauce to a simmer.
6. Once simmering, return the sausage to the pan and give it a stir.

7. Add the pasta to the pan along with 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water.  Cook the pasta stirring frequently just until it reaches al dente.
8. Remove the pan from the heat and add the minced parsley.  Taste test the sauce and make any adjustments to salt and pepper, to taste.  We recommend adding a good amount of pepper as it pairs well with gorgonzola cream sauce. If the pasta is at all dry, add some of the reserved pasta water a little at a time to bring the consistency back to perfect.  Serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano, or Pecorino Romano, and more fresh black pepper.  Enjoy!

Top tips for gorgonzola cream sauce pasta

• The pasta. We used large rigatoni for these photos but any tubular-shaped pasta would work well, such as penne, ziti, mezzi rigatoni, or paccheri.  Shells would also be great here as would gnocchi.
• The cheese. Gorgonzola dolce is creamier and milder than the crumbly gorgonzola piccante which is why we recommend using dolce for the sauce. We used 6 ounces for the recipe which allowed for a mellow gorgonzola flavor but if you want something a little stronger, increase the amount of gorgonzola.  Another suggestion for those who love gorgonzola is to crumble some gorgonzola piccante on top of the pasta once it’s done.  
• The sausage.  We used mild bulk Italian sausage for this recipe.  If you can’t find bulk sausage, simply buy the sausage links and remove the sausage from the casing.  
• Save your pasta water!  As with any cream sauce pasta, we want to stress how important it is to save your pasta water.  It’s likely that the gorgonzola cream sauce will dry out while you’re waiting to eat and a little bit of reserved pasta water can help bring the pasta back to a glossy, creamy consistency.

More pastas you’ll love

If you love sausage gorgonzola pasta, we think you’ll also enjoy these other recipes:

• Pasta alla Norcina – pasta with sausage in a white wine cream sauce with a touch of nutmeg.
• Pasta alla Boscaiola – mushrooms, sausage, and rosemary tossed with pasta in a white wine cream sauce.
• Beans and greens sausage pasta – sweet fennel sausage tossed with escarole, spinach, cannellini beans, and pasta in a garlicky white wine sauce.
• Sausage pasta fagioli – crumbled Italian sausage with penne pasta, butter beans, and cannellini beans.
• Creamy Italian sausage pasta – pappardelle and sausage tossed in a tomato-based creamy white wine sauce.

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