This sausage and pepper pasta combines juicy Italian sausage and sweet peppers in a rich tomato sauce. A hearty, comforting dinner packed with flavour!
The key to this sausage and pepper pasta is building flavour at every stage. The sausages are browned and simmered in a rich tomato sauce before being tossed through pasta. It’s the type of foolproof meal that you can always rely on to produce clean plates! Follow me…
Ingredients Notes
You’ll find the full list of ingredients and quantities in the recipe card below, but there are a few ingredients worth discussing before we tuck in:
- Sausages – In the US, use mild/sweet or hot Italian sausage links depending on your spice preference. In the UK, if you can’t specifically find Italian-style sausages, any good-quality pork sausages work perfectly – herby sausages are especially good here. Avoid anything too strongly flavoured, such as caramelised onion or apple.
- Peppers – I use red, yellow and orange peppers as they’re sweeter than green. You can use whichever combination you prefer.
- Tomatoes – Whole plum tomatoes tend to be slightly sweeter and richer than chopped tomatoes. They’ll break down as the sauce simmers, but chopped tomatoes will still work if that’s what you have.
- Pasta – A short pasta shape is best for catching the chunky sauce. I use casareccia, but rigatoni, penne or fusilli will all work nicely.
Italian Sausage and Peppers
As you fry the sausages, they’ll release a good amount of fat, which is what we want. Because fat = flavour! This leftover fat not only makes the perfect base for the sauce, but it’s also great to fry the peppers in.
This step is more so to brown the sausages and render down that fat. Don’t focus too much on cooking them right through; they’ll finish cooking as they simmer in the sauce.
The peppers and onion will soften further as they simmer; this step is mainly to get some colour on them and develop some flavour.
Process shots: fry sausages (photos 1&2), fry onion and peppers (photo 3), fry garlic (photo 4).
Sausage and Pepper Pasta
Once you’ve fried the peppers, onion and garlic, stir in the tomato paste. Frying the paste for a couple of minutes is important as it sweetens the flavour and takes away that harsh, acidic taste.
From there, add the plum tomatoes, dried herbs and chilli flakes, then return the sliced sausages to the pan. I like to swill out the tomato cans with a little water and pour this into the sauce too – it’ll look fairly thin initially, but this gives everything enough liquid to simmer properly.
The key is to simmer the sauce for around 30 minutes. This gives the tomatoes time to break down, allows the sauce to thicken and, most importantly, brings all those gorgeous flavours together. This step really helps separate this recipe from the rest.
Process shots: fry tomato paste (photo 1), add tomatoes and seasoning (photo 2), add sausage (photo 3), simmer (photo 4), stir in pasta (photo 5), stir parsley and parmesan (photo 6).
Serving Suggestions and Storage
If at all you find you’ve simmered the sauce a little too long and the sauce thickens too much, just add a splash of the starchy water you cook the pasta in. If it’s still a little watery, just continue tossing until the sauce thickens and clings to the pasta.
To serve, I like to sprinkle extra parmesan and parsley over individual portions. If you want to, you can also drizzle over some good quality extra virgin olive oil too!
Storage/Reheating – Allow leftovers to cool, then tightly cover and store in the fridge for 3-4 days. Reheat until piping hot, adding a splash of water to loosen the sauce as needed. If you want to prepare it ahead, make the sauce separately and cook the pasta just before serving.
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe for this sausage and peppers pasta shall we?!
How to make Sausage and Pepper Pasta (Full Recipe & Video)
Sausage and Pepper Pasta
Equipment
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Large Skillet & Wooden Spoon
- Large Pot & Colander
- Fine Cheese Grater
Ingredients
- 14oz / 400g Italian Sausages (see notes)
- 3 small/medium Peppers, cored & sliced (preferably 3 different colours)
- 1 medium White Onion, sliced
- 2 large cloves of Garlic, finely diced/minced
- 2 heaped tbsp Tomato Paste (Tomato Puree in UK)
- 2x 14oz / 400g cans of Peeled Plum Tomatoes
- 1 tsp EACH: Dried Oregano, Dried Basil
- pinch of Chilli Flakes, to taste
- 10.5oz / 300g Short Cut Pasta (here I use Casarecce)
- 1/3 cup / 30g freshly grated Parmesan, plus more to serve if desired
- 1/4 cup finely diced Fresh Parsley, save some to serve
- Olive Oil, as needed
- Salt & Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Add a drizzle of oil to a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the sausages and fry until deep golden all over, turning frequently, then remove and place them to one side. Slice them into 5-6 pieces just before needed. Don't worry about cooking the sausages right through; this is just about browning the outside and rendering down the fat.
- Add the peppers and onion to the leftover fat and fry until soft and golden. Lower the heat slightly, then make space in the centre for the garlic and fry for a minute or so. Stir in tomato paste and fry for another minute or so.
- Pour in the tomatoes, then fill one of the cans about half the way up with water. Use this to swill out both of the cans and pour that in too. Add in the oregano, basil, chilli flakes and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Give it a stir and burst some of the tomatoes with your wooden spoon. Stir in the slices of sausage, then bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 30 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened and is no longer watery, stirring occasionally and gently bursting the chunks of tomato as needed. This time is important to reduce the sauce and marry all the flavours together.
- Just before the sauce is done, add the pasta to salted boiling water and cook until al dente. Retain 1/2 cup or so of the leftover pasta water as you drain it.
- Stir the pasta into the sauce, then stir in the parmesan and parsley. If you need to thin out the sauce slightly, just add a splash of starchy pasta water (discard otherwise). The sauce should be lusciously thick, cling to the pasta and no longer be watery at all. Continue tossing until it reaches this consistency.
- Check for seasoning and adjust (generously if needed) with more salt and pepper to taste. Serve up with extra parmesan and parsley if desired and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Your Private Notes:
Nutrition
Looking for more?
You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’
Fancy more of a rustic sausage and peppers pasta? Why not try making your own Homemade Sausages!
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This recipe is so good! We have an abundance of different Italian style sausages here in Tennessee. Store brand works fine. The best thing is the simplicity. I’m always looking for super delicious and savory recipes that are easy to prepare, and this one fills the requirement.
My binder is full of your recipes and this one absolutely deserves its spot!
Thanks so much for popping back for a review, Phil! Appreciate it 🙂 C.
Made this 3 times now and the family licks the plate clean every time!
So great to hear, April! Thanks for the review 🙂 C.
Firm favourite with the family. They like it hot and cold.
Thanks so much for the review, Deborah! 🙂 C.