Penne with Sausage and Fennel Alfredo Sauce is a dish I made with what was leftover in my refrigerator this week. I had planned to make a tomato and fennel salad earlier in the week, but I never got around to doing it (plus, someone ate the oil cured black olives I was saving for this dish). Italian sausage is a staple, so it’s always on hand. I love the combination of fennel and Italian sausage (see my sausage and fennel frittata recipe). Fennel has an overwhelming licorice or anise aroma, but it cooks up sweet and the flavor of the anise is mild. Both of my grand kids ate it without question and that’s rare.
I started by sauteing the Italian sausage until it was cooked through. Then I move it over in the pan, and added a little extra virgin olive oil, a chopped small shallot (onion works, too), a few cloves of crushed garlic (can never have too much garlic), and the thinly sliced fennel. I cooked the fennel until it was tender, which only takes 5 minutes or so. Probably, the right way to do it is to remove the browned Italian sausage from the pan before adding the fennel, shallot, and garlic. Once the fennel is tender, I added a healthy pinch of crushed red pepper flakes, then mixed together all of the ingredients in the pan. I let it cook for a minute or two on low heat while I put on a pot of water to boil for the penne pasta.
I also added a cup of heavy cream and a cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and let it simmer until the penne was al dente. Then I drained the pasta and added it to the skillet of sausage and fennel alfredo. Double yum! It’s hard to beat quick and delicious comfort food.
Penne with Sausage and Fennel Alfredo Sauce Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage
- 1 small shallot chopped
- 1 fennel bulb thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 or 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup grated parmigiano reggiano
- crushed red pepper
- salt & pepper
- Penne pasta cooked al dente
Instructions
- Saute Italian sausage until brown and cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside. Add olive oil, shallot, garlic, and fennel; saute over medium heat until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add browned sausage, cream, parmigiano, and crushed red pepper to pan. Stir well; simmer on low heat for a minute or two. Add salt and pepper as desired. Serve over al dente Penne pasta.
Nutrition
Shared at: Mon Handmade Linky Party, Motivate Me Monday, Inspiration Monday, Made By You Monday, Off the Hook Monday; Tues Totally Terrific Tuesday Linky Party, What’d You Do This Weekend, Lou Lou Girls Fabulous Party, Treasure Box Tuesday, Create Link Inspire, Totally Talented Tuesday, Tuesday’s Table, Simple Supper Tuesday, Two Cup Tuesday; The Makers; Wed What’s Cookin’ Wednesday, Wonderful Wednesday Blog Hop, Whimsy Wednesday, The Wednesday Roundup,
Thanks for linking up to Wonderful Wed. Blog Hop. This pasta looks so creamy and delicious.
Pinned.
Blessings,
Diane Roark
recipesforourdailybread
ouramericantravels
My mouth is watering! This sounds amazing.
Thanks for joining the #HomeMattersParty – we hope to see you again next week 🙂
This sounds delicious! I love fennel and it must be wonderful combined with the sausage. Thanks for sharing at What’d You Do This Weekend? I hope you will join us again this Monday morning 🙂
I love this penne with sausage and fennel alfredo sauce. I’ve done the sausage but never the fennel. Love it!
What a great recipe! Love it! Pinned and tweeted. We love to party with you, so I hope to see you tonight at 7 pm. That would be so awesome.
Happy Monday! Lou Lou Girls
We will just love this dish! Thanks so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and come back soon!
Miz Helen
This looks delicious! I’ve never considered fennel with alfredo before. Thanks for linking up to Awesome Life Friday! We will be pinning this post – can’t wait to see what you’re sharing this week!
Fennel is on my list of things to try to use more of this year. This would be an excellent way to try it! Pinning.
Fennel is one of my favorites.
Sherry, This recipe looks delicious! Thanks so much for sharing it. Pinned and tweeted to share!
I might have mentioned my son considers himself a pastatarian so having delish and yummy pasta dishes to make are a necessity! This sausage and fennel Alfredo looks like something he will love!
Sherry, this looks like a plate full of deliciousness! It’s going on my to make list!
I love Alfredo Sauce so with Penne and sausage it should be awesome.
Looks delish! A very versatile recipe using alfredo sauce!
My husband will LOVE this, Sherry! He thinks any type of pork should be its own food group. 😉 Of course, I feel the same way about alfredo and pasta, so this recipe is a winner!
This looks delicious. I love all those flavors, so I’ll have to try this recipe sometime this week!