Pasta With Spicy Sausages, Tomatoes, Rosemary and Olives
Updated Sept. 9, 2025

- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 2tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½pound hot Italian sausage, casings removed
- 1large sprig fresh rosemary
- 1fat garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1½pounds ripe plum tomatoes, trimmed and diced
- ¼cup green pitted olives, slivered
- Salt to taste
- ½pound pasta, like penne
- Finely chopped parsley, for garnish (optional)
Preparation
- Step 1
Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and rosemary; cook, breaking up the meat with a fork, until browned and cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, cook 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and stir occasionally until they have broken down and turned into a sauce, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the olives for the last 5 minutes of cooking. Add salt to taste, cover and keep warm.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain well and toss with the sauce. Finish with parsley, if you like.
Private Notes
Comments
Delicious, quick and easy! I used a 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes, doubled the amount of sausage (using 1/2 lb. each mild and spicy) and my sprig of rosemary yielded 1 Tbsp., which was just right with the other spices from the sausage. The olives provided enough salt, so no more was added--and if you use grated parmesan to garnish, that adds even more.
Added a little tomato paste to the pan with the garlic to intensify the flavors. Easy and very good.
I was looking for a quick & tasty pasta for dinner, and this was it! Very tasty, and easy to prep and cook. Following other suggestions, I added onion and red pepper and mushrooms and red pepper flakes. Used kumato tomatoes from Trader Joe's, but in a month or so ours will be ripe. Meanwhile, I'm keeping this in my rotation.
Added 1/2 onion, used 1/2 can crushed tomatoes, 1 can whole peeled tomatoes (crushed by hand), mushrooms, used 1lb spicy sausage 0.5lb mild sausage, whole wheat penne, 5-6 cloves garlic, used castelvetrano olives - putting in comments as a note so I can make it the same way next time!
This was a real hit, and will definitely go into regular rotation! I personally would prefer slightly less sausage and more tomatoes, but the family did not agree. Really great results with minimal fuss - the best kind of weeknight cooking!
Add a little olive brine!
