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Spicy Linguini with Chipolata, Mushroom & Bacon

Whenever I’m cooking pasta, I almost always try to insert some heat into the dish either from the sausage, the sauce or something else. In this case, the sausage I was using was a Chipolata sausage which is not a spicy link so I knew I had to get the heat from somewhere else.

Chipolata Sausage

Chipolata sausage is one of a variety of sausages that can transcend borders and cultures and end up as a staple in a number of different countries. The Chipolata is difficult to trace but it’s believed that it originated in France where you can still find it in most butcher shops and restaurant cassoulets.

Chipolatas are a skinny sausage made with pork, salt, pepper and some aromatic herbs or spices such as nutmeg or thyme. In this case, my friends over at Simply Sausage have taken it to the next level by using fresh Duroc pork seasoned with French gray sea salt, Tellicherry black pepper, and a pinch each of ginger, allspice, nutmeg, and clove. Whenever possible, if you can upgrade your ingredients in this fashion you’re going to get a great result.

In the UK, Chipolatas are commonly wrapped in bacon and served as appetizers. In the U.S., we mistakenly call hot dogs wrapped in dough a “pig in a blanket” but the English actually originated this term by wrapping Chipolatas in bacon and baking them. Chipolatas can also be a great breakfast sausage, but if you’re looking for a 5 star breakfast link, I have to point you to my absolute favorite sausage made by Simply Sausage, the French Country version.

Chipolata Sausage Recipe

If you’re looking for a good Chipolata Sausage Recipe check out this link: How to make chipolata sausage. If you want a good recipe for how to use Chipolatas in cooking, keep reading.

Since Chipolatas were definitely flavorful in my pre-meal taste test, I knew they could hold up to a strong sauce. The recipe is actually quite simple:

1 box of linguini
1 jar of good tomato basil spaghetti sauce – jazzed up with 1 tbsp of red pepper flakes
1 quart of button mushrooms sauteed and quartered
10 strips of thick-cut bacon – cooked crisp and crumbled
1/4 bunch of parsley roughly chopped.
1 lb Chipolata Sausage

Directions…cook all the ingredients ahead of time (refer to the picture) and toss everything together. It’s so easy…and so good.

Have a chipolata ingredient you’d like to share? Send it to us!