Creamy Pasta with Sausage and Roasted Peppers
This creamy pasta with sausage and roasted peppers comes together in just 20 minutes, making it great for a weeknight dinner. The addition of lemon and fresh basil gives the sauce a nice brightness, and the use of familiar ingredients makes it an easy recipe for home cooks.
This dish is hearty enough on its own, but you could also serve it with Parmesan garlic bread on the side. If you love this recipe and pasta dinners in general, take a look at some of my other recipes like this creamy pasta with cured chorizo and Parmesan, this creamy Parmesan, pancetta, and marinated artichoke pasta, or this smoked pancetta and mushroom pasta.
Ingredients You’ll Need
To make this pasta dish, you’ll need to assemble the following:
- Pasta – 1 lb rigatoni (or another short pasta like penne or fusilli)
- Sausage – 1 lb pork sausage links. Use mildly flavored pork sausage (seasoned with salt, pepper, and mild herbs like thyme or sage). Italian sausage also works and will give the dish a more pronounced fennel-garlic flavor.
- Roasted Peppers – 4 roasted peppers, skins removed (if using store-bought jarred roasted peppers, skip the lemon juice as the jarred roasted peppers often contain vinegar). If you want to use homemade roasted peppers, you can make them ahead of time, using the oven-roasted method here (30-35 minutes at 430°F (220°C) or in the air fryer (about 25 minutes at 400°F (200°C)).
- Lemon – zest from one lemon plus 2 tsp lemon juice (or more to taste)
- Cream – 1/2 cup heavy cream
- Parmesan – 1/3 cup grated Parmesan for the sauce, plus about 2 tbsp to serve on top. Preferably, use freshly grated Parmesan (the store-bought pre-grated one will often clump up).
- Garlic – 1 large garlic clove
- Reserved Pasta Water – 1 1/2-2 cups of pasta water (reserve 2 cups of water after you’ve cooked the pasta, before draining it, but you’ll probably use just about 1 1/2 cup).
- Butter – 2 tbsp butter
- Shallot – 1 shallot
- Fresh basil – 8-10 basil leaves
- Salt – to taste
- Pepper – to taste
Prep
You can do all this prep while cooking the recipe, but here it is in one place in case you like to have everything ready to go before you start cooking.
- Remove the casings from the sausages, and tear the sausages into small bite-sized pieces.
- Zest the lemon using a zester or microplane grater. Juice the lemon.
- Peel and mince the shallot.
- Mince the garlic.
- Finely slice the basil (preferably slice just before serving).
How to Make It
Cooking the Pasta
Step 1. Boil water for the pasta. Put a large pot of salted water (about 1 tbsp of salt) over medium-high heat to boil. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook for the time indicated on the package, minus one minute (as we’ll finish cooking the pasta in the sauce). Once the pasta is cooked, drain it, but reserve 2 cups of the pasta water.
While waiting for the water to boil and the pasta to cook, make the sauce.
Making the Sauce
Step 1. Brown the sausage bits. Heat a frying pan over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Add the sausage bits a few at a time over a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook until browned and just slightly crispy, and some fat is released from the sausage (about 10-12 minutes).
Step 2. Sauté the shallots and garlic. Remove the cooked sausage bits from the pan, draining them. You can do this with a silicone slotted spoon or spatula. Keep only about 1 tbsp of the released fat in the pan (discarding the rest). Add the minced shallot, and sauté over medium heat for about 2-3 minutes until softened but not browned. Adjust the heat to lower if necessary. Add a pinch of salt, ground black pepper, and minced garlic, and sauté for 30 seconds.
Step 3. Finish the sauce. Add 2/3 cup of pasta water to the pan, return the sausage bits, and add the roasted pepper strips, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Add 1/3 cup of pasta water to the cream and mix to temper it, and add it to the pan. Simmer for about 2 minutes. Add the butter and mix until melted (it helps emulsify the sauce).
Final Touches
Step 1. Combine the sauce and pasta. Combine the sauce with the drained pasta in the empty pasta pot, and simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat, add the Parmesan, and mix. Check the sauce consistency. You may have to add more pasta water (about 1/2 cup). Gently mix with a silicone spatula to get a glossy sauce. Add half the finely sliced basil, mixing it in.
Step 2. Serve. Taste the pasta, and adjust the seasoning (salt, pepper, lemon juice) if needed. If adding extra salt, consider that it will be served with extra Parmesan on top (which is salty in itself). Serve with finely sliced basil and extra Parmesan on top.
The pasta dinner is a great go-to for a comforting dish when you don’t have a lot of time. If you make it and love it, let me know in a review below!
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 1 lb rigatoni or another short pasta like penne or fusili
- 1 lb pork sausage links Note 1, casings removed and torn into small rustic bits
- 4 roasted peppers Note 2, skins removed and sliced or torn into strips
- 1 lemon zest
- 2 tsp lemon juice or more to taste
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan for the sauce more to serve on top of the pasta dish (Note 3)
- 1 large garlic clove minced
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 shallot minced
- 10 fresh basil leaves finely sliced just before serving
- a pinch of salt to taste
- a pinch of ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
Cooking the Pasta
- Boil water for the pasta. Put a large pot of salted water (about 1 tbsp of salt) over medium-high heat to boil. Once the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook for the time indicated on the package, minus one minute (as we’ll finish cooking the pasta in the sauce). Once the pasta is cooked, drain it, but reserve 2 cups of the pasta water. While waiting for the water to boil and the pasta to cook, make the sauce.
Making the Sauce
- Brown the sausage bits. Heat a frying pan, over medium-high heat, for 1 minute. Add the sausage bits a few at a time over a couple of minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook until browned and just slightly crispy and some fat is released from the sausage (about 10-12 minutes).
- Sauté the shallots and garlic. Remove the cooked sausage bits from the pan, draining them. You can do this with a silicone slotted spoon or spatula. Keep only about 1 tbsp of the released fat in the pan (discarding the rest). Add the minced shallot, and sauté over medium heat for about 2-3 minutes until softened but not browned. Adjust the heat to lower if necessary. Add a pinch of salt, ground black pepper, and minced garlic, and sauté for 30 seconds.
- Finish the sauce. Add 2/3 cup of pasta water to the pan, return the sausage bits, and add the roasted pepper strips, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Add 1/3 cup of pasta water to the cream and mix to temper it, and add it to the pan. Simmer for about 2 minutes. Add the butter and mix until melted (it helps emulsify the sauce).
Final Touches
- Combine the sauce and pasta. Combine the sauce with the drained pasta in the empty pasta pot, and simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat, add the Parmesan, and mix. Check the sauce consistency. You may have to add more pasta water (about 1/2 cup). Gently mix with a silicone spatula to get a glossy sauce. Add half the finely sliced basil, mixing it in.
- Serve. Taste the pasta, and adjust the seasoning (salt, pepper, lemon juice) if needed. If adding extra salt, consider that it will be served with extra Parmesan on top (which is salty in itself). Serve with finely sliced basil and extra Parmesan on top.
Notes
If you want to add this dinner option to your pasta or weeknight dinner rotation, don’t forget to save the recipe to one or more of your boards.
