Lemon Basil Pasta with Spicy Sausage

This Lemon Basil Pasta with Spicy Sausage is a quick meal that is so delicious with lots of bright flavors that always satisfies.

I’d like to introduce y’all to one of my favorite quick weeknight dinners. And sometimes weekend dinner. Because this pasta is delicious enough for the weekend but quick enough to make after a long day of work or being at home doing the mom thing. Not to mention this pasta has a few of my most favorite things basil, lemon and garlic all wrapped around some luscious noodles.

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Lemon Basil Pasta with Spicy Sausage

One of the reasons I love this dish so much is because it’s so packed with flavor. I like to use spicy sausage in this recipe to add a little flavor and protein. You can leave it out if you prefer a vegetarian dish or substitute ground chicken sausage.

For the noodles, I absolutely love Fusilli col Buco! It’s a long curly noodle that is just fun to eat! You can substitute pretty much any noodle but I do love how these long curly noodles really attach to the sauce. You can definitely substitute Spaghetti or Fettuccini nicely.

Tips For Making Lemon Basil Sauce

I have a few tips for making the sauce! I actually prefer to use my blender to make the sauce but you can easily use a food processor as well. When making this sauce, I recommend pouring the olive oil in first to help the ingredients sit up on top of the blades and help from anything getting stuck below them. I also recommend starting on a low speed then gradually increasing so that way you don’t over blend. You want the sauce to be mostly smooth and free of any big chunks but you also want it to have some texture. So smooth-ish. Does that make sense?

I know you will love this pasta and sauce as much as I do! Drop any questions you have in the comments!

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Lemon Basil Pasta with Spicy Sausage

This Lemon Basil Pasta with Spicy Sausage is a quick meal that is so delicious with lots of bright flavors that always satisfies.

4 from 5 votes

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Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Italian

Servings 6

Calories 583 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 lb Fusilli col Buco or any pasta you like
• 1 lb ground spicy sausage or regular if you prefer no spice
• 1 cup heavy cream

Lemon Basil Sauce

• 4 oz basil pesto
• 1 large lemon juice & zest
• 1 tsp kosher salt reduce by half if using table salt
• 4 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

 

• Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. In a separate pan, brown the sausage and drain if necessary.
• Meanwhile, combine the basil pesto, lemon juice and zest, salt and olive oil in a blender or food processor until mostly smooth.
• Boil pasta for 11 minutes or according to package directions. Reserve one cup pasta water then drain pasta.
• Put pasta back into pot with pasta water and sausage, tossing to combine. Then add Lemon Basil Sauce and cream, tossing again. Salt to taste, add additional red pepper if desired. Serve hot!

Nutrition

Calories: 583kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 18gFat: 45gSaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 109mgSodium: 886mgPotassium: 343mgFiber: 2gSugar: 1gVitamin A: 1641IUVitamin C: 15mgCalcium: 82mgIron: 3mg

Keyword Basil, Pasta

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