Rigatoni with italian sausage, radicchio and taleggio cream

 Authentic Italian rigatoni with sausage, radicchio and melted taleggio cheese — a creamy pasta recipe from northern Italy, rich, comforting and deeply flavourful. Perfect weeknight comfort food.

A northern Italian classic in spirit — rich sausage, bitter-sweet radicchio, and the luxurious melt of taleggio cheese. This is the kind of pasta you eat on a cold autumn evening with a glass of red.

Ingredients (2 people)

200 g rigatoni

200 g fresh Italian sausage (salsiccia, removed from casing)

1 small head radicchio (finely sliced)

100–120 g taleggio cheese

80 ml cream (or a splash more if needed)

1 small shallot (optional but recommended)

Olive oil

Pinch of chili flakes (optional)

Salt & black pepper

Method

1. Start the pasta — boil rigatoni in generously salted water.

( Eat a piece of Taleggio )

2. Brown the sausage — in olive oil, break the sausage into rustic chunks. Let it caramelise, not steam.

3. Add shallot and radicchio — sauté gently until radicchio softens and turns sweet, losing its sharp bitterness.

( Take another bite of Taleggio )

4. Create the cream — lower the flame. Add cream, then melt in taleggio. Stir slowly into a luscious sauce. Add pepper (and chili if you like heat). Taste before salting — sausage + taleggio already bring salt.

5. Emulsify — toss rigatoni straight from the pot into the sauce with a small splash of pasta water. Let it bind, not drown.

6. Serve immediately — no parmesan on top (taleggio is the king here). Just a crack of pepper.

Serving suggestions

Pair with Nebbiolo, Valpolicella Ripasso or a young Montepulciano.

Works beautifully as a cold-weather lunch or slow Sunday dinner.

Add toasted walnuts on top if you want a touch of Alpine winter.