
I didn’t have a lot of time or energy the other day when I was thinking of what to make for dinner. I was in the mood for pasta, but wanted something different from a spaghetti sauce. After checking what ingredients I had on hand, I finally created this delicious main dish with hot Italian sausage in a seasoned cream cheese-tomato sauce served over pasta I call Sausage and Tomato-Cream Pasta.
Sausage and Tomato-Cream Pasta Has a Velvety Creaminess
This recipe is a comforting main dish that is simple, satisfying and doesn’t involve a lot of work on your part. Yet, my sausage and tomato-cream pasta is brimming with fresh garden herbs to give so much more flavor to this velvety tomato sauce.

I don’t like to eat the casing on sausages. Therefore, I usually freeze them first for help pulling the casing off. Fresh sausages are too slippery to maneuver for yanking those casings in my opinion.
Though you can use cream cheese in this sausage and tomato-cream pasta recipe, I tend to use the lower fat neufchatel cheese. Substituting the neufchatel cheese doesn’t diminish any of the rich creaminess, it just helps with lowering the calorie count. In case you’re wondering, using this cheese doesn’t make the sauce curdle or give it an unappetizing color.
Here’s a tip if you’re not going to serve my sausage and tomato-cream pasta recipe immediately. Save about a cup or half a cup of the water that you boiled your pasta in to keep on hand for later, which will keep the dish moister. The starch from the pasta does amazing things for additional lubrication.
Another advantage to making my sausage and tomato-cream pasta recipe is how well any leftovers heat up. Add a little water, depending on how much you have, and cover. Try microwaving the leftovers for about two or three minutes to reheat or use your stove to warm.


- 1 can 28-oz. size diced tomatoes
- 1 can 6-oz. size of tomato paste
- 1 lb. of hot Italian sausage or your favorite sausage casing removed and sliced in small pieces
- 1 cup of finely chopped onion
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- 4 oz. of neufchatel cheese or cream cheese
- ½ cups of water
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- ½ teaspoons of black pepper
- ½ teaspoons of dried oregano
- 3/4 cup of fresh basil finely chopped
- 1/4 cup of fresh parsley finely chopped
- ½ teaspoons of rosemary
- 1 lb. box of your favorite pasta
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Brown your chopped onion and garlic in your skillet with the olive oil until golden brown.
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Next, add the skinless, chopped hot Italian sausage or your favorite form of sausage to join the onion and garlic. Cook and brown until the sausage starts to lose its pink color.
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Transfer to a larger pot that has a lid if your skillet is not big enough to accommodate the tomatoes, paste, sugar, water, salt, pepper, oregano, fresh chopped basil and parsley, and rosemary next.
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Simmer these together on your stove top for about 30 minutes until the flavors start to blend and fill your kitchen with its delectable aroma.
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Near the end of this cooking time, put a pot of water on to boil for the pasta. I had a box of penne pasta within reach so this is what I used this time.
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Add the cheese last to melt through.
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When the pasta is cooked, you can combine with sausage with sauce together to coat or to serve it over a bed of the plain, cooked pasta.
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You can sprinkle Parmesan or Romano cheese over your plate, but I honestly didn’t think it tasted any better.
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ENJOY!
I think I tried using cream cheese in a tomato sauce recipe once. I completely forgot about it! I’m glad I came across your recipe.
This sounds delish! I love Italian sausage and buy it ground to use in my lasagna. I use cottage cheese(mixed with an egg), Italian blend shredded cheese, and canned diced tomatoes flavored with Italian spices.
This sounds really good. This would be great on a chilly rainy day like today.
I had never had Italian sausage till recently as a friends home. Since then I have been looking for different ways to use it. Tried in chili and loved it! So I will be making this only a smaller version 🙂