Vegan Sausage Ragu with Orecchiette Pasta
Ginny McMeans
Published:
June 19, 2016
Last Modified:
May 8, 2024
Vegan Sausage Ragu and Orecchiette Pasta are a perfect match. Those little round disks that hold extra sauce are comfort food at its finest.
You may have noticed that I am a down-home cook and I love comfort food no matter what culture it’s from.
Ragu is a casual Italian comfort sauce with tomatoes and meat. Since my recipes are vegan, I have added meatless plant-based Italian Sausage.
In my opinion, the best plant-based meats out there are the sausages. I think it is because of the addition of sage – so delicious.
It must be, at least once a week, that pasta goes down at our dinner table. Spaghetti, penne, and macaroni are used a lot, but do you know there are over 350 different pasta varieties out there?
I always forget to get fancy and change it up. Just their shapes and textures make a dish different.
Ingredients
- Meatless Italian Sausage this is not a sponsored post but I love and use Field Roast Apple and Sage
- Coconut oil
- Onion is used in a small amount but adds to the texture and flavors.
- Dairy free milk that is unsweetened makes the sauce so creamy adn adds more depth of flavor.
- Tomato paste is rich in flavor and makes the best sauce.
- Italian seasoning of course. The mix of herbs is perfect.
- Orecchiette pasta is round pasta and holds extra sauce.
Whether the sauce is white or red it works differently with various pastas and recipes. Some are better soup pastas and some are better salad pastas. Some are for stuffing and some are to hold the sauce better.
That is what Orecchiette is all about. It holds the sauce and gives you extra help for a great big bite of flavor.
This Vegan Sausage Ragu came about because of Ed. You see his favorite pasta is macaroni and you know what one of my least favorite pasta is? Macaroni.
It is silly of me, I know, but I don’t like the shape in my mouth. Are you laughing? Go ahead. I can take it! It makes me laugh too.
So to continue … I went in search for a pasta that I could substitute for macaroni in some of my dishes that would make us both happy. Eureka!
I found gold in the shape of little these round bowls. They feel so good in my mouth. Go ahead. Laughter is a good thing.
Please, have fun with this Vegan Sausage Ragu recipe too and feel confident that it will turn out good. Very simple to make and very satisfying to eat.
Vegan Sausage Ragu with Orecchiette Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 package vegan meatless Italian Sausage this is not a sponsored post but i love and use Field Roast Apple and Sage
- 1 tablespoons coconut oil
- 1 onion small onion, chopped
- 1 cup dairy free milk unsweetened
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 12 ounces orecchiette pasta
Instructions
- Do not cook the pasta if you are going to freeze the sauce for the future.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the directions.
- Drain the pasta when done and set aside.
- While this is coming to a boil prepare your meatless sausage.
- Take the wrapping off of the meatless Italian sausage and cut into 1/4″ to 1/2 ” slices.
- In a large skillet heat the oil and add the onion. Saute for about 10 minutes.
- Remove the onion from the pan and set aside.
- Add the meatless sausage and brown on each side. I did this in three batches so I had plenty of room for flipping over the sausage.
- Add a teaspoon of oil between batches if needed.
- When meatless sausage is completed add all of the sausage back to the pan along with the onion, tomato paste, milk, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
- Cook for about 10 minutes to thicken up the sauce a bit.
- If you are serving now:
- Add the cooked pasta.
- Stir and heat through.
- Serve with a salad and crusty bread.
