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Tomato and Sausage Ragù over Polenta
This recipe combines a few flavor-packed ingredients to create a hearty, meaty ragù that’s ready to serve in less than 45 minutes. Either sweet or hot Italian sausage works here; use as much or as little red pepper flakes as you like to give the ragù a spicy kick. Serve it in bowls over creamy Parmesan-enriched polenta. Be sure to use fast-cooking instant polenta, not regular polenta, which requires longer cooking. Feel free to thin the polenta to your desired consistency with hot water.
4 to 6
Servings
40 minutes
Ingredients
-
4
tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
-
1
pound Italian sausage, casing removed, OR 1 pound bulk Italian sausage (see headnote)
Directions
-
01In a 12-inch skillet over medium, heat 2 tablespoons oil until shimmering. Add the sausage and cook, breaking it into small pieces, until no longer pink and starting to brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in the garlic, pepper flakes, ½ teaspoon black pepper and the tomatoes with juices. Bring to a simmer over medium-high, then reduce to medium-low and simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until a spatula leaves a trail when drawn through the mixture, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and set aside.
Reviews
June 6, 2024
Goto flavor dish
The sauce over the polenta is very flavorful. It is a meal where you pause and enjoy every bite. Has a wow factor if you want to impress a guest.
December 26, 2022
Very delicious
I could not use the sausage meat as I was making it for someone in the family who cannot eat salt. I have used regular ground beef, but I have added all the spices that go into the sausage: onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, fennel, oregano, a little bit of sugar. I cooked it for 1 hour and it was delicious. I have use Cento Italian Style Whole Peeled Tomatoes.
June 28, 2026
Surprisingly good
I say this as I wasn't sure while cooking. It was delicious. But next time I wouldn't add all of the tomato juices.
March 2, 2026
4 stars, but still great!
This is indeed a quick and easy recipe. I also had regular polenta, which I made in the pressure cooker (creamy polenta, fast and slow recipes) which gave me enough time to bring the ragu together.
I agree with some that the recipe lacks depth, but that is mostly due to the sausage you use, and whether you want to sacrifice ease for depth. Minced onions, minced/processed mushrooms, and browned tomato paste would probably help, but takes a little longer.
This will easily join my rotation, and gives me room for creativity if given time.
November 25, 2024
Mid
Originally, I rated this recipe 3-Stars only. Leftovers the following night, after a few cocktails, was then rated 4-Stars. So perhaps I'm being hard on this one. It lacked depth and umami. Although, it was incredibly easy and fast, so that may be the trade off! In the future, I will sweat onions and deglaze with wine at the least.
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