Orecchiette Pasta with a Sausage and Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Italian Cooking for First Time Chefs
This Orecchiette Pasta with Sausage and Roasted Red Pepper Sauce is an easy weeknight meal that uses one pot. It cooks up in about 30 minutes.
This is a light tasting dish that is perfectly paired with a nice salad. The tangy roasted red peppers, fresh tomato, and basil along with Italian sausage makes a delicious sauce that sits nicely in the little cups that are Orecchiette pasta.
This will be on your regular weekly meal rotation for sure.
This Orecchiette Pasta with Sausage and Roasted Red Pepper Sauce is also perfect for a nice weekend meal.
We had friends over tonight for dinner and they loved this.
They had two servings!
It also reheats really well for meal prep.
The Tomato and Peppers
I dice the tomatoes and peppers from the jar. I use three medium sized Roma tomatoes but you can use any varietal.
Just eyeball it and make sure that they equal about the same amount of tomatoes that the three Roma tomatoes do. This does not have to be EXACT, just make sure you get as close as you can.
After dicing the tomatoes and peppers I do a light sprinkle of the seasonings across the top and let them sit for a few minutes. Do not fret about the measurements for the seasonings, you can taste and adjust them at the end if needed.
Save The Pasta Water
Make sure you carefully save two cups of the pasta water before you drain the pasta.
The pasta water is liquid gold as it has starch in it from cooking the pasta. This will help your sauce come together and thicken as well as help the sauce bind to the pasta.
The Pasta
I like to use this Orecchitte pasta because of the shape. It is ear shaped, as the say.
Who are “they?” I couldn’t tell you!
Personally, like to think of it as flying saucer shaped. I love the little divots in the pasta that hold this delicious sauce and sausage crumbles.
Liquid From The Jar
The above photo shows about how much liquid you should have in your pot when you add the juice from the roasted red peppers.
If you do not have this much liquid, you can add a little water. There will also be liquid from the sausage cooking.
DO NOT fret about exact amounts in this step, it will still come out good no matter what.
Orecchiette Pasta with a Sausage and Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
This pasta with sausage and roasted red pepper sauce is an easy weeknight meal that uses one pot. It cooks up in about 30 minutes. This is a light tasting dish that is perfectly paired with a nice salad. The tangy roasted red peppers, fresh tomato and basil, along with Italian sausage makes a delicious sauce that sits nicely in the little cups that are Orecchiette pasta. This will be on your regular weekly meal rotation.
Ingredients
- *any clarifying questions you may have are covered in the post beyond this recipe card
- 1 lb box of Orecchiette Pasta
- 1 lb of Italian Sausage
- 12 ounce jar of Roasted Red Peppers
- 3 Roma Tomatoes (You can use any tomatoes just make sure they equal size equivalent of 3 Roma tomatoes)
- 6 to 8 Fresh Basil leaves
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- Coarse or Kosher Salt
- Black Pepper
- Onion Powder
- Garlic Powder
- Red Chili Flake (optional)
- Reserve 2 cups of the pasta water after you are done cooking the pasta
Instructions
- Boil your pasta until it is al dente. About 11 minutes. Before draining the pasta, save 2 cups of the pasta water in a bowl. Drain the pasta and let it wait on the side, you will add it to the sauce and it will warm.
- Remove the sausage from the casing, add 2 tabalespoons of olive oil to the same pot as the pasta and then add the sausage.
- Cook the sausage fully, making sure to use a ground meat chopper or spatula to break up the sausage into smaller crumbles.
- While the sausage cooks, remove the peppers from the jar and chop into small pieces. Make sure you keep the liquid from the jar of peppers.
- Wash your tomatoes and dice them into small pieces. Add the peppers and tomatoes to a bowl and lightly salt and pepper them, then sprinkle them lightly with the garlic and onion powder. Set them aside for a few minutes.
- When your sausage is fully cooked, and I like a slight caramelized look to the crumbles, add your peppers and tomatoes to the pot, and the remaining liquid from the jar of peppers.
- This should be enough liquid to bring this all to a simmer (see pictures in the post to visualize)it should be about 1/3 cup of liquid, if there is not enough liquid add a little water to make it 1/3 cup.
- Bring this to a simmer, add your basil leaves, turn down heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir once in awhile.
- Taste your sausage mixture and see if you want to add more of the salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder. I add a little chili flake now because I like spice.
- Add your cooked pasta to the pot and your pasta water. Bring to a simmer and let simmer for 10 to 12 minutes with the lid off, stirring occasionally.
- The pasta is done when most of the liquid is absorbed. Turn off heat and let sit for five minutes or so. This is when the rest of the liquid will absorb.
- Serve with fresh basil on top if you wish and some fresh parmesan cheese.
More Pasta
If you like this pasta dish, you must give this Ravioli recipe a try. It is a delicious pasta in a delicate broth that pairs perfectly with a nice crusty bread.