If you're crazy about spicy food with loads of flavor and texture, then our Italian drunken noodles made with our tender Homemade Pappardelle recipe is it. This Thai inspired recipe has a diced tomato wine sauce so good you won't be able to get enough of it. The tender pappardelle noodles swim among chunks of spicy sausage, Italian seasoned tomatoes, and colored bell peppers. This rich egg noodle pasta recipe is one your family will insist you make often!
Next time try this classic Chinese American dish.
For this recipe you will need for sauce: Italian sausage, red, orange, yellow bell pepper, garlic, diced tomatoes, dry white wine, garlic, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, unsalted butter, black pepper, salt, fresh parsley, fresh basil. For pasta: eggs, olive oil, all-purpose flour, Kosher salt.
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Drunken Noodles Background
The name of the dish is Pad Kee Mao It's a traditional Thai dish that's very popular both in Thailand and in Thai restaurants.
The main ingredients are wide rice noodles, ground pork, lots of fresh basil, and spices that will singe your tongue!
Consider this dish the Thai equivalent of a late night pizza. You know what I mean. After a long late night of imbibing, you've got the munchies or heaven forbid a hangover.
The perfect cure, so they say, for either state is to eat noodles bathed in a salty spicy sauce.
FAQ's
Is there alcohol in drunken noodles?
No.
Why do they call them drunken noodles?
The first reason is the spiciness keeps you drinking alcoholic beverages to put out the fire of the spice. The other reason is that the spicy, salty noodles supposedly cures your hangover.
Interesting theory, don't you think?
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What kind of noodles are in drunken noodles?
Normally, they are broad rice noodles. A sauce of soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, garlic, meat, seafood, chili, fresh black pepper, and holy basil dresses the pasta.
We love all things pasta. So when we tasted the delightfully spicy, tangy, salty Pad Kee Mao ingredients, it inspired us to give this dish an Italian twist.
Italian Thai Fusion
It was really easy to come up with Italian substitutions for the Thai ingredients.
The Thai drunken noodle subs
- Pappardelle make the perfect replacement for the broad rice noodles.
- Hot Italian sausage, like in our Italian Sausage Pasta, adds the zesty flavor and heat to the pasta pappardelle.
- For the vegetables, we use colorful red, orange, and yellow bell peppers. Peppers are an Italian favorite.
- To get the sauciness, we use canned diced tomatoes in their sauce. Not as salty as in the drunken noodles but just as tasty.
- White wine adds to our drunken{ubriaco} Italian noodles and it adds more sauce.
- Red Pepper flakes and black pepper give the dish plenty of heat.
- Fresh basil and parsley are herbs both in Thai and Italian cuisine.
- Garlic is an aromatic in both cuisines.
- Italian seasoning adds to the flavor.
- Make the Pappardelle recipe.
- Get the ingredients ready.
- Sauté the sausage.
- Add the peppers, tomatoes, wine.
Pappardelle Recipe First
There is absolutely nothing better than fresh egg noodles. The eggs make the pappardelle so rich and tender that they almost melts in your mouth. But, if you're unable to make fresh noodles, see if you can't buy them already made.
Another alternative is buying fresh lasagna dough and then cutting the pappardelle strands from the dough.
Ingredients for an egg noodle recipe
- "00" (doppio zero)Italian flour makes the best pasta but you can substitute all-purpose flour.
- Kosher salt.
- Eggs.
- Olive Oil.
Easy directions - food processor
- Measure flour and salt into processor bowl fixed with the metal blade and pulse to mix.
- Add 2 whole eggs to the flour.
- Beat the 3 yolks with 1 Tablespoon olive oil.
- With the processor running, add the egg yolk/oil mixture to the flour.
- Process the dough until it comes together in a loose ball.
- Remove the dough and knead briefly by hand until it forms a smooth ball.
- Cover the dough with a glass bowl and let it rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Cook for a few minutes.
- Add the basil/ pesto and butter.
- Add the pappardelle pasta.
- Buon appetito!
How to form the pasta for the drunken noodles
Cut the dough ball into fourths. Keep the dough you don't use under the glass bowl.
Using a pasta machine:
- Flatten one of the four dough pieces with your hand.
- Start out at the thickest setting on the pasta machine and run the dough through the machine.
- Fold the sheet into thirds and then run it through the machine two more times.
- Reduce the setting to the next lower level and run the dough through the machine.
- Dust the dough with flour as needed to prevent sticking and keep decreasing the pasta roller thickness until the dough 1/16" (4mm) thick
- Use a knife to cut the pasta sheets into pappardelle width of ½"
- Sprinkle flour on the noodles and circle them into a nest. Finish working the rest of the pasta dough.
By hand:
- Divide the dough into sections and roll them out one at a time.
- Dust the dough, work surface, and rolling pin with flour to prevent sticking.
- Roll the dough out in a long rectangular length. Lift the dough frequently to prevent sticking.
- Keep rolling until the dough is 1/16" (4mm) thick for the pappardelle recipe.
- Use a knife to cut the egg noodle pasta sheets into ½" width.
- Sprinkle flour on the noodles, circle them into a nest, set aside to work with the rest of the dough.
Can I use store-bought Pappardelle pasta?
Yes. Just follow the package instructions minus about a minute of cooking time. You don't want to overcook the noodles. They'll finish cooking in the sauce.
Finishing the Italian Drunken Noodles Sauce
This recipe goes really fast once you get the ingredients mise en place (all ready). What you need to do is:
- Crumble the spicy Italian sausage.
- Dice the red, yellow, orange peppers
- Mince 4 cloves garlic
- Open two cans 15oz. of dices tomatoes with juice totally 30oz.
- Measure ½ cup dry white wine like a Chardonnay. Do NOT use cooking wine. It's too salty.
- Julienne ¼ cup basil.
- Chop 2 Tablespoons parsley.
- Measure the salt, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, black pepper.
- Olive oil - you'll measure and drizzle.
- Butter - 1 Tablespoon.
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Have a large pot of water ready to cook the pappardelle briefly before tossing into the sauce for the Italian drunken noodles.
And there you have it! Your delicious Italian Drunken noodles swimming in a sauce that is so good you won't be able to stop eating it. I promise!!
Here are more pasta dishes you'll enjoy
Shrimp Stir Fry Italian Style -- Shrimp and noodles in one pan make a delicious and quick dinner.
Pasta Calamari Capri -- A quick seafood dish inspired by the Island of Capri.
Italian Sausage Pasta -- A scrumptious one-pan dish that you can have on the table in less than 30 minutes.
Ramen Carbonara -- A 20-minute meal that combines delicious Asian noodles with an Italian eggy cheese sauce. This is the ideal dish to whip up when you're hungry, but only the best will suffice.
Our pappardelle recipe is a rich egg pasta that's easy to make and wonderful to have on hand. If you don't have time to make the pasta, you can still enjoy these recipes by purchasing your pasta at the store.
Tutti a tavola è pronto!
Un caro saluto e alla prossima.
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Our Braiser is a pan we use all the time. We love it! It's perfect for making sauces or braising meat. The pan and lid are super heavy so you can slow cook without fear of scorching or burning.
This is the "00" Flour we use when we make pasta. We find that the noodles turn out tender and flavorful.
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Italian Drunken Noodles & Saucy Homemade Pappardelle Recipe
This popular Thai recipe gets an Italian twist by using a homemade pappardelle recipe and giving the egg noodles their spice with hot Italian sausage, and red pepper flakes. The sauce is so good you'll want to make sure that you soak up every bit of it. This dish is so good you'll want to regularly put it on your dinner menu.
Next time you're craving a one skillet dinner, try our Italian Stir Fry recipe. We sub the usual Asian flavors for delicious Italian ones.
If you like this recipe, please consider giving it a 5-star rating.
📖 Recipe
Italian Drunken Noodles With Pepper Sausage Pappardelle
Ingredients
Pappardelle Pasta
- 290 grams "00" Flour or 2 ⅓ cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 5 large eggs 3 yolks and 2 whole eggs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
Italian Drunken Noodle Sausage Pepper Sauce
- 1 lb hot Italian sausage crumbled
- 2 Tbsp. olive oil
- 3 bell peppers - red, orange, yellow diced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 ½ tsp. Kosher salt
- ½ tsp. black pepper
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ cup dry white wine NOT cooking wine Like a Chardonnay
- 2 15oz cans diced tomatoes with juice
- 2 tablespoon fresh Parsley chopped
- ¼ cup fresh basil (julienned) ***see notes cut into slivers
- 1 tablespoon Butter unsalted
If using store bought pasta ***
- 8 oz. pappardelle pasta
Instructions
Pappardelle Pasta
- Place the flour and salt in the bowl of the food processor and pulse to aerate and combine.
- In a measuring cup add the 3 yolks and the olive oil and whisk to combineAdd the other two whole eggs to the flour in the processor bowl.
- With the machine running, drizzle in the eggs. Process for 20 seconds and then pulse to see if it starts to come together. If its too dry and crumbly add another teaspoon of olive oil and pulse two or three times more.
- Remove the dough from the processor and knead it briefly by hand on a floured surface to smooth it out and form a smooth bowl. Let rest for 30 minutes.
- With your pasta machine or a large rolling pin, roll the pasta to 1/16" thick. Cut long strips ½" and dust with additional flour. Form a nest and then set aside until you finish rolling out the rest of the dough. *** see notes
- When ready to cook bring a large pot of water to a roiling boil. Salt the water.
- Drop the pappardelle into the boiling water by the handful. Be sure to stir the water to keep the strands separated. Cook for 3 minutes, or until tender. They'll finish cooking in the Sauce.
Pepper Sausage Sauce
- Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a heavy-bottom pan or braising pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot add the crumbled Italian sausage to the pan. Brown the sausage then remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
- Add the diced peppers, salt, Italian seasoning, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and stir to combine. Sauté for about 2 minutes until tender.
- Now add the minced garlic, and once you can smell the aroma add the white wine and let it reduce for one to two minutes.
- Add the diced tomatoes with their juice and return the spicy sausage back into the pan. Stir the ingredients together and let simmer for two minutes. Turn off heat.
- Add the one tablespoon butter to create a smooth silky sauce. Add all of the parsley and half of the basil ribbons. Stir. Keep warm while making the pasta.
- Add the pasta directly to the sauce and gently mix together. Tongs work the best with this mixing. Taste to see if there is enough salt or pepper.
- To serve place a healthy portion of the pasta noodles in bowls. Finish them off with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of basil ribbons on top.
Video
Notes
- To freeze -- Make sure they have plenty of flour on them, wrap them up in plastic wrap and then place them in a freezer bags. We leave them in nests because they take up less space. You can freeze them directly from the baking sheet and then package them in freezer bags.
- To Dry -- Spread them out in a single layer onto a well-floured baking sheets. Allow the noodles to dry for 1-2 days, depending on the humidity. The noodles must be completely dry before storing them. What we like to do is place the baking sheets into the oven to keep them out of the way and dust free. Once they are dry, store them in an airtight container at room temperature. A way to test them to make sure they are dry, they should snap easily when you bend them in half.
Nutrition
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