I love a thick, hearty meat sauce when the weather gets cold. I also like saving money and sneaking in more vegetables to meals. This hearty sausage and mushroom pasta sauce satisfies both!
Since mushrooms have such a hearty taste and have the same texture as ground meat, they blend perfectly with the sausage meat. By using the mushrooms, you can use less meat and save money. By using sausage, the meat is pre-flavored and quick to whip up.
Of course, you can use any pasta you prefer- long noodles, penne, rigatoni (my personal favorite), whole wheat, even gluten free. However, since this sauce is thick, if your pasta is ridged, it may stick better.
This sauce is pretty versatile. You could make a dairy free version (just swap out the parmesan and cream) or a vegetarian version (use ground tofu or veggie ground meat).
I love freezing a few portions for weekday meals since pasta is ALWAYS a hit in our house.
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