Many of you have requested it, and today I’m delivering, the Creamy Sausage and Saffron Pasta Recipe without cream is finally online! Yes, after the few years old recipe of Pasta with sausage without cream that you all loved among the recipes on my blog, here is the recipe for saffron and sausage pasta. Why did it take so long? Well, I must say that saffron rarely makes an appearance at my house, as it’s quite expensive, especially when bought in threads like this case, so I use it sparingly. But since I received a small bottle of saffron threads from the company I work for as a birthday gift, it seemed right and proper to wait for the first cold and offer you this easy and quick recipe for a creamy first course without adding cream.
I invited my friend Gaia for lunch to share this dish with a bold flavor; she, of course, being a good sommelier, brought a bottle of wine, and we enjoyed this recipe. The sausage and saffron pasta is prepared very quickly, but you must be careful. If you use saffron threads like I did, you’ll need to soak them in a coffee cup with water overnight. This will give us a reddish water that we will then use for this recipe. If you use saffron powder, you obviously won’t need to do this step.
I recommend, in my taste and opinion, buying saffron in threads; it’s really worth it. Keep in mind that at my trusted greengrocer, Orto di Pietro here in Porto San Giorgio, you can find it for 7 euros, and I managed to use it for three recipes, two of which I haven’t published yet because I’m still testing, and the third was the classic Milanese risotto, or Creamy Saffron Risotto. Always a real success! One of our favorite winter dishes nowadays!
Now, if you bought just one sausage, well, I forgive you, and you can skip the other recipes I propose below. But if you found a pack of sausages with three or four pieces, don’t miss the opportunity to try: risotto with sausage and zucchini or sausage puff pastry candies for delicious appetizers. And let’s face it, who doesn’t go crazy for Sausage and Potatoes in the Oven? Have I already told you that my recipe is foolproof? You will amaze your family or guests with a truly delicious and tasty winter dish. And then there’s New Year’s coming, and you wouldn’t want to prepare Lentils with Sausage and mashed potatoes that bring money, would you? I’ve given you my advice, and below, you’ll find all the links for the recipes; now let’s move on to the sausage and saffron pasta without cream!
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 2 servings
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
- Energy 333.26 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 33.27 (g) of which sugars 1.99 (g)
- Proteins 14.17 (g)
- Fat 15.80 (g) of which saturated 0.67 (g)of which unsaturated 0.67 (g)
- Fibers 2.12 (g)
- Sodium 1,364.61 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 125 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Creamy Sausage and Saffron Pasta without Cream
- 7 oz pasta (your choice of type)
- 1 sausage (medium-large)
- Half white onion (yellow onion works too)
- 7 saffron threads (between 7 and 10 threads if medium-small)
- 1 coffee cup milk
- as needed extra virgin olive oil
- 1 pinch salt (to salt the pasta water and sauce)
- 1 pinch black pepper
Remember to soak the saffron threads the night before preparing the recipe. If you use saffron powder, this step is not necessary.
Useful Tools for Preparing Sausage and Saffron Pasta without Cream
- 1 Frying Pan
- 1 Pot
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Wooden Spoon
- 1 Coffee Cup
- 1 Colander
Steps to Prepare Creamy Sausage and Saffron Pasta without Cream
As anticipated, the recipe requires the soaking of saffron threads in a coffee cup filled with water. If you haven’t bought saffron threads or have saffron powder in your pantry, you can still prepare this recipe. Let me explain what you need to do.
Always take a coffee cup and fill it with water, pour the saffron powder into it, and stir gently with a teaspoon. Let it sit this way for at least half an hour. Consider this technical soaking time to achieve a unique aroma and color that only the Gold of the Earth can bring to our dishes.
Having done this, in both cases, we are ready to start preparing our first course with saffron and sausage. Now take a cutting board and a knife, slice the onion, in my case white, but yellow onion will also be fine. Pour extra virgin olive oil into a non-stick pan and add the onion so that it can sauté and soften.
While doing this, also place a pasta pot or a high-edged pot on the stove. Fill it with water and bring it to a boil, then salt it. Choose your preferred type of pasta; as always in my cases, it’s either ridged penne or thick and rough spaghettoni. I don’t love pasta that much, and only a few packs and types of pasta enter my house.
Now prepare the sausage, cut it into very small pieces, and add it to the pan with the onion, letting it cook over medium heat. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon. Remember that there is still time to order the wooden spoon or spatula with the Le Ricette di Bea logo, the Perfect Christmas Gift for my cooking blog followers!
Add the coffee cup where you soaked the saffron threads or the saffron powder to the sausage. In the first case, set the threads aside for the final decoration of the dish. Stir, and then, after a few minutes, add the same coffee cup, filled this time with milk.
This is the true replacement ingredient for the creama that we will use in this recipe. The milk, as it comes to a boil during the cooking of the sausage, will act as a binder to the ingredients and will make our dish creamy. If you are intolerant, you can obviously use lactose-free milk or plant-based milk. However, avoid rice, soy, almond, coconut, or oat milk as they would alter the final taste of our first course, completely covering the flavor and taste of saffron. Continue cooking until the sausage is done.
When the water in the pot comes to a boil, we can cook the pasta we’ve chosen. Once the pasta is ready and well-drained, we will sauté it in the pan with sausage and saffron. Smell that fragrance? Can’t wait to taste this creamy first course, can you? Well, we’re almost there, mix it all up, sprinkle with grated cheese if you like, although today we’ve decided not to add it, and voilà, it’s done! We are ready to serve Creamy Sausage and Saffron Pasta without Cream to our guests! I just have to remind you that I’m waiting for you on the blog’s social channels, until December 25 you can find on the Facebook fan page of Le Ricette di Bea the Advent Calendar with the Recipe of the Day with a Christmas theme. I wish you a good appetite and I look forward to seeing you here in my kitchen for the next recipe to make and enjoy together!
Variations of the Creamy Sausage and Saffron Pasta Recipe
The first variant, as already explained during the writing of the recipe, is saffron in threads or powder. I also explained the different procedure for handling it.
The second and obvious variation is adding cream, little and diluted with milk, but you can do it without problems. We should not overuse this ingredient, but it certainly makes everything creamier and more delicious.
Another variant is the use or non-use of white wine for the onion sauté, to your taste and pleasure.
And last but not least, if you want, prepare short pasta, or if you want, cook long pasta. And what about risotto? Well, in this case, you already have my base recipe for saffron risotto, just add the sausage!
