Sausage and Roasted Red Pepper Rigatoni

5 stars from 1 review

Roasted Red Pepper Rigatoni is an absolutely fabulous and easy Italian dinner recipe! Tender pasta swimming in a robust sauce with sausage.

Servings:

Prep Time25

Total Time25

1 pound rigatoni or ziti would work well here too - a pasta with ridges to catch the sauce
kosher salt handful to flavor the pasta water
1 pound smoked sausage I used Farmer John's
1 pint roasted red peppers approximately 1 cup - reserve the liquid and garlic from the jar
3 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cup slivered almonds or sliced
5 ounces croutons garlic and cheese flavor
5 tablespoons olive oil separated
1/4 cup reserved liquid from pepper jar
1 cup reserved pasta water
1 tablespoon Italian spice mix
2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped

In a pan over medium high heat, cook sausages. Remove from heat and place on cutting board. Slice sausages. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta into a large bowl. Reserving 1 cup of pasta water.
In the bowl of a food processor, blend croutons until they are in crumb form. Transfer to a bowl for later use. Refit food processor and blend almonds, once in crumb form transfer them to a separate bowl for later use. Refit food processor again and blend 1 cup of roasted red peppers. Once chopped to desired consistency reserve for later use.
In a medium pan, over medium heat add 1 tablespoon olive oil and minced garlic. Cook until slightly browned, add almonds. Stir until fragrant.
Add peppers to pan, stir occasionally until slowly bubbling, then add olive oil and reserve pepper juices. Add Italian seasoning, sliced sausages, salt and pepper to taste. About a pinch of each will do.
Allow to cook together on medium/medium-low for a few minutes. Add parsley to pan, stir well. Pour entire mixture over drained rigatoni. Mix well to combine.
Add in bread crumbs.
Stir again. Add reserved pasta water 1/4 cup at a time until you reach your desired consistency. Serve immediately.

If you like a VERY strong roasted red pepper flavor, omit the Italian spices. Before they were added the pepper flavor was incredible.