Description
This Spicy Italian Sausage and Peppers Pasta recipe is one of my personal all-time favorite PWWB recipes. With a goal of recreating the rich, simmered-all-day-long flavor of one of my favorite pasta dishes here in the Twin Cities (the Rigatoni con Salsicce a la Broder’s Pasta Bar!), I’ve tweaked & perfected this recipe over the years, ensuring it boasts amazing rich flavor but it’s quick & easy enough to make any night of the week.
The secret? Using a smart line-up of ingredients. Rich & flavorful spicy Italian sausage infuses the sauce with luscious texture & aromatic flavor, while a few flavor-forward additions like tomato paste & dry white wine help to build a tremendous amount of flavor in a short amount of time.
Feel free to toss the sauce into whatever pasta you love. Pictured is rigatoni (a nod to the restaurant dish this recipe is inspired by!), but fusilli, linguine, & bucatini are all great options too. Be sure to let the sauce & pasta simmer together for a couple of minutes before serving – it’s the secret to serving a restaurant-worthy pasta at home. ♡ Buon appetito!
Ingredients
Scale
- 8 ounces rigatoni or short pasta of choice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound bulk mild, sweet, or spicy Italian sausage (see Recipe Notes)
- 1 large bell pepper, diced (approx. ½ cup diced)
- 1 large yellow onion, diced (approx. ½ cup diced)
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
- up to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- ½ cup dry, unoaked white wine (see Recipe Notes)
- one 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- ½ cup grated parmesan
- kosher salt & ground black pepper, to season
- for serving, as desired: grated parmesan, finely chopped fresh basil leaves, finely chopped fresh parsley, crushed red pepper flakes, etc.
Instructions
- Boil the pasta: Generously season a large pot of water & bring to a boil. Add the rigatoni & cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is 2-3 minutes under al dente (“al dente” cooking time is typically included in package directions). Drain the pasta – do not rinse! – & set aside. (Learn more ⇢ How to Cook Pasta Perfectly Every Single Time!)
- Soften the aromatics & brown the sausage: Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot & shimmering, add the sausage, bell pepper, & onion, seasoning with 1 teaspoon kosher salt & ground black pepper as desired. Using a wooden spoon to break the sausage into fine, bite-sized crumbles as it renders, cook until the sausage is rendered & the veggies are fragrant, 5-7 minutes. The sausage should brown nicely & the veggies should soften – if anything starts to brown too quickly, reduce the heat to medium or medium-low. Add in the garlic & crushed red pepper flake, cooking until just fragrant, about 30 seconds to 1 minute longer.
- Build the tomato sauce: Stir the tomato paste into the skillet, stirring to coat the sausage & veggies. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until deeply red. Deglaze the pan by slowly pouring in the white wine, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits that may have formed on the bottom of the pan. Once the wine is almost completely cooked off, stir in the crushed tomatoes & parmesan. Bring the mixture up to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low. Let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, to thicken slightly & build flavor. Taste & adjust seasoning accordingly.
- Finish the pasta: Once the sausage & peppers have simmered in the tomato sauce, add the pasta to the skillet & toss to coat. Adjust as needed so the sausage and peppers sauce evenly coats the pasta – if the mixture is too thick, toss in a little reserved pasta water; if the mixture is too loose, turn up the heat or toss in an extra handful of parmesan cheese, etc. Cook over medium heat for 1-2 minutes, allowing the pasta to meld with & absorb some of the tomato sauce. Remove from the heat.
- Serve immediately, topped with additional grated parmesan, chopped basil or parsley, &/or a sprinkling of crushed red pepper, as desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Ingredient Notes:
- Sausage: I highly recommend opting for full-fat pork sausage for this sausage and peppers pasta recipe, as its natural richness helps build an especially flavorful sauce in a relatively short amount of time. I love the way the light heat of spicy sausage helps balance the natural sweetness of tomatoes, but if you prefer to use mild or sweet Italian sausage, it’ll work great. If you prefer to use leaner ground turkey sausage or meatless crumbles, they will work – plan to use an extra tablespoon of olive oil to help compensate for the richness of pork sausage.
- White wine: The addition of white wine helps create complex flavor in the spicy sausage and peppers sauce despite its short simmer time. Dry, unoaked white wines work best – I often cook with Pinot Grigio. Wine substitutes ⇢ If you cannot do not have white wine on hand, you can substitute with dry vermouth for this recipe. If you prefer not to cook with alcohol, substitute with an equal amount of chicken stock with a splash of apple cider vinegar whisked into it.
- Not a fan of spicy? No worries! Simply swap out spicy sausage with mild or sweet Italian sausage & omit chili flake – the sausage peppers pasta will be nice & mild!
- Storage & Reheating: Leftover sausage peppers pasta will keep, stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave until warmed through.
- 10-Minute Meal Prep: Nearly all of the active prep work for this sausage peppers pasta comes from prepping the veggies – dicing the onion & bell pepper. Take care of this in advance & store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. It takes 10 minutes, tops, & with the prep work done, you can jump straight into cooking at dinnertime!
