Pasta alla Norcina is an easy, creamy pasta dish originating from an Umbrian town famous for its pork products. Unsurprisingly, this comforting pasta features crumbled pork sausage and a generous amount of salty and delicious pecorino Romano cheese. Best of all, it takes less than 30 minutes to make!
Pasta alla Norcina, not to be confused with Pasta alla Norma, is a rich and creamy pasta dish hailing from the Umbrian town of Norcia (pretty much in the center of Italy). Norcia is known for its cured meats and sausages (typically all pork-based), so it’s unsurprising that sausage is an important component to this local comfort dish.
There are actually two variations of Pasta alla Norcina. The version I’m sharing features short tubular pasta cooked in a creamy sauce with sausage, onion, white wine, and pecorino Romano cheese. The other version features long pasta such as spaghetti or tagliatelle, and usually includes black truffles and sometimes fresh mushrooms.
Although you absolutely can finish this dish with a shaving of black truffles over the top, it’s often made without truffles when they’re unavailable or out of season. Thus, I have not included that pricier ingredient in my ingredient list below, but you can certainly add some if you’d like.
I'm not about to pretend this dish is healthy. It's not. But it's absolutely cozy and comforting and perfect when you want to tuck into a bowl of creamy pasta! This Penne alla Norcina is quick and easy to make, and will melt away the winter blues.
Ingredient notes
- Sausage:
- Penne alla Norcina is traditionally made with crumbled Norcia sausage, which is a very particular style of mild pork sausage which features garlic. Norcia sausage can be difficult to source in the United States, so you can use another Italian-style sausage that DOES NOT contain fennel or chili flakes. While you can choose to make your own homemade bulk sausage to emulate traditional Norcia sausage, I think using other store-bought sausages made with garlic (and without fennel and chili) is a reasonable substitute.
- I opted for some fresh garlic and herb pork sausages I found at the Whole Foods meat counter. Yes, they had a bit of herbs added, but it was really negligible. They also have a similar garlic and herb chicken sausage you could try if you want to lighten up the dish a bit, though that veers even further from the traditional.
- Pasta: Use a short, dry, tubular pasta such as penne or rigatoni for this recipe. You could also use orecchiette pasta, or "little ears." You’ll only need 12 ounces or ¾ of a pound. If you want to use the entire pound of pasta you can adjust the serving size of the recipe accordingly to make more.
- White Wine: Use a relatively dry white wine for this recipe, such as a Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, or Sauvignon Blanc. Avoid using sweet white wines such as Riesling or Moscato. As a bonus, drink some of the chilled white wine alongside your Pasta alla Norcina! Its acidity will help cut through the richness and provide a nice balance.
- Heavy Cream: Both heavy cream and heavy whipping cream have similar levels of milk fat, usually around 36% or more. Either would work for this recipe.
- Pecorino Romano Cheese: Pecorino Romano is the traditional cheese used in Pasta alla Norcina. You may find cheese simply labeled “Romano” in the United States but it's not the same (it's made with cow's milk). Look for cheese actually labeled as pecorino Romano, which is a sheep’s milk cheese from Italy.
How to make it
Bring a pot of generously salted water to a boil.
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. If the pork sausage is in casings, remove the casings. Add the sausage and cook until browned, occasionally breaking up the pieces with a wooden spoon. Scrape up any bits of sausage sticking to the pan with your spoon.
Add the onion, stir to combine and continue to cook until the onion has started to soften.
Pour in the wine and stir, scraping up any dried up bits on the bottom of the pan. Simmer and cook until the wine has reduced by about half, about 1 to 2 minutes.
Stir in the heavy cream and continue to simmer, stirring regularly, until slightly thickened.
Taste and season with pepper as needed. Hold back on the salt for now because the pecorino Romano cheese is quite salty. Turn off the heat, cover, and keep warm.
Meanwhile, boil the pasta in the pot of boiling salted water. Cook to al dente. Reserve some of the starchy pasta cooking water, in case you need it, then drain.
Return the skillet of sausage and cream to low heat, add the drained pasta and grated pecorino Romano.
Stir to coat. Continue to cook for another minute or so, stirring constantly until the sauce is thick and nicely coats the pasta but still has a bit of sauciness. You can thin it with some pasta water too if needed.
Serve Pasta alla Norcina immediately with more pecorino Romano on the side and freshly grated black pepper over the top, if desired.
Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.
Expert tips
Get your water boiling while you chop the onion, remove the sausage from its casings, and measure the other ingredients. I like to get my water boiling in advance and then, if needed, turn off the burner. When I'm ready, I turn it back to high and it's boiling almost instantly. It's easier to time my cooking so I can prepare the sauce while the pasta boils, and not have to really wait around for one or the other.
Penne alla Norcina traditionally uses pecorino Romano cheese, which is fairly salty. I find that other than boiling the salted pasta water, the sauce doesn't really need any additional salt, but taste and adjust to your liking. If you don't have pecorino Romano, you could use Parmigianno-Reggiano, but this cheese is less salty so season as needed.
Don't forget to reserve some of the starchy pasta cooking water before draining your pasta. Heavy cream creates an absolutely luscious sauce as it reduces, but you may need to slightly thin it back out again if it thickens too much to perfectly coat your Penne alla Norcina.
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Pasta alla Norcina (Creamy Pasta with Sausage)
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 12 ounces (340 grams) pork sausage (preferably with garlic and without any fennel or chili)
- 1 small onion finely chopped
- ½ cup (120 ml) dry white wine
- 1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 12 ounces (340 grams) short, tubular pasta such as penne or rigatoni, or orecchiette ("little ears")
- ½ cup (65 grams) finely grated pecorino Romano cheese
Instructions
- Bring a pot of generously salted water to a boil.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. If the pork sausage is in casings, remove the casings. Add the sausage and cook until browned, occasionally breaking up the pieces with a wooden spoon, about 5 to 6 minutes. Scrape up any bits of sausage sticking to the pan with your spoon.
- Add the onion, stir to combine and continue to cook until the onion has started to soften, about 3 minutes.
- Pour in the wine and stir, scraping up any dried up bits on the bottom of the pan. Simmer and cook until the wine has reduced by about half, about 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the heavy cream and continue to simmer for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, stirring regularly, until slightly thickened. Taste and season with pepper as needed (hold back on the salt for now because the pecorino Romano cheese is quite salty). Turn off the heat, cover, and keep warm.
- Meanwhile, boil the pasta in the pot of boiling salted water. Cook to al dente. Reserve some of the starchy pasta cooking water, in case you need it, then drain.
- Return the skillet of sausage and cream to low heat, add the drained pasta and grated pecorino Romano, and stir to coat. Continue to cook for another minute or so, stirring constantly until the sauce is thick and nicely coats the pasta but still has a bit of sauciness. You can thin it with some pasta water too if needed.
- Serve immediately with more pecorino Romano on the side and freshly grated black pepper over the top, if desired.
Notes
- This recipe is traditionally made with crumbled Norcia sausage, which is a very particular style of mild pork sausage which features garlic. Norcia sausage can be difficult to source in the United States, so you can use another Italian-style sausage that DOES NOT contain fennel or chili flakes. While you can choose to make your own homemade bulk sausage to emulate traditional Norcia sausage, I think using other store-bought sausages made with garlic (and without fennel and chili) is a reasonable substitute.
- I opted for some fresh garlic and herb sausages I found at the Whole Foods meat counter. Yes, they had a bit of herbs added, but it was really negligible. They also have a similar garlic and herb chicken sausage you could try if you want to lighten up the dish a bit, though that veers even further from the traditional.
- Get your water boiling while you chop the onion, remove the sausage from its casings, and measure the other ingredients. I like to get my water boiling in advance and then turn off the burner. When I'm ready, I turn it back to high and it's boiling almost instantly.
- Pasta alla Norcina traditionally uses pecorino Romano cheese, which is fairly salty. I find that other than boiling the salted pasta water, the sauce doesn't really need any additional salt, but taste and adjust to your liking. If you don't have pecorino Romano, you could use Parmigianno-Reggiano, but this cheese is less salty so season as needed.
Nutrition
*All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.*
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