Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes and Roasted Peppers

Pasta tossed with Italian sausage, roasted red bell peppers, olives, capers, fresh tomato and basil

Pasta with Sausage Tomatoes Roasted Peppers
Elise Bauer

One of the great things about having a food blog is that it gives me an excellent excuse to ask people about what they like to cook. The discussion of food is a natural conversation starter, with old friends I haven't seen for a while, or even with complete strangers.

"What are your favorite foods?" will always get a response, and from there, I can usually figure out if the person likes to cook as well. Then the next question is, "what's your favorite recipe?"

Take my friend Bruce. Bruce loves to cook, has for as long as I've known him, over 20 years. He even contributed this winner to the site last year—the green salsa chicken bake. When he was visiting the other day, our chatter naturally turned to recipes.

This is the one he shared with me that he makes with regularity: a bowl of pasta, simply tossed with Italian sausage, fresh chopped tomato, and basil.

Sometimes he swaps out the sausage for shrimp. He'll use any long pasta, though prefers fettuccini. So good! And it comes together so quickly. Perfect for a midweek meal.

Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes and Roasted Peppers

Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Total Time 30 mins
Servings 4 to 6 servings

The beauty of this recipe is that you can easily play around with it. Don't have sausage? Use shrimp instead. Have lots of basil? Add more. Don't have capers? Just leave them out. Have Parmesan? Sprinkle some on at the end if you like.

Prep the ingredients while the pasta water is heating.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

  • 3/4 pound Italian sausage, sweet or hot

  • 2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1 cup roasted red bell peppers, chopped

  • 1 tablespoon capers

  • 1/2 cup pitted black olives, halved

  • 3 to 4 large fresh tomatoes, seeded and chopped

  • 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

  • 1 pound linguine or other pasta

Method

  1. Heat a large pot of salted water:

    Bring water (1 Tbsp salt per 2 quarts of water) to a boil.

  2. Brown the sausage, add garlic, roasted red peppers, capers, and olives:

    While the water is heating, prepare the sausage and peppers. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium heat. Add the sausage, breaking it up into bits with your fingers as you add it to the pan or with a wooden spoon once it's in the pan.

    pasta-sausage-tomatoes-peppers-method-1
    Elise Bauer
    pasta-sausage-tomatoes-peppers-method-2
    Elise Bauer

    When the sausage starts to brown, add the garlic and cook for another minute. Mix in the roasted red peppers, capers and olives. If the pasta water isn't boiling yet, remove the sauté pan from the heat.

  3. Cook the pasta:

    Once the pasta water is boiling, add the pasta to the pot.

  4. Add chopped tomatoes and basil to sausage mixture:

    When the pasta is almost done, increase the heat to high on the sauté pan and when the sausage mixture starts to sizzle, add the chopped tomatoes and basil. Toss to combine and lower the heat to medium-low.

    pasta-sausage-tomatoes-peppers-method-3
    Elise Bauer
  5. Combine pasta and sausage mixture:

    Drain the pasta and put it in a large bowl. Add the sausage mix to the bowl and toss to combine.

Links:

Linguine with Peppers and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes - from Andrea Meyers

Whole Wheat Pasta with Peppers and Sausage - from Kalyn's Kitchen

Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes, Artichokes and Shrimp - from The Perfect Pantry

Pasta with Italian Sausage, Tomatoes, Roasted Peppers, and Basil
Elise Bauer
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
378 Calories
21g Fat
32g Carbs
16g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories 378
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 21g 26%
Saturated Fat 7g 33%
Cholesterol 32mg 11%
Sodium 544mg 24%
Total Carbohydrate 32g 12%
Dietary Fiber 3g 12%
Total Sugars 5g
Protein 16g
Vitamin C 52mg 262%
Calcium 44mg 3%
Iron 3mg 15%
Potassium 470mg 10%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.