Roasted Bell Peppers and Sausage Penne Pasta

I came up with this recipe about ten years ago after eating something similar in a local restaurant. The original dish had chicken and sausage and it was out of this world! While eating, I wrote down everything I saw in the dish and those that I could only taste. That dish had both chicken and sausage. Having both types of meat in the dish is awesome. But using only one of either is not a disappointment. Your taste buds will thank you no matter how you prepare the dish.

Normally, I only cook it with either chicken or sausage, it depends on what I want to prepare for my family. The day I took pictures for this post, I only used the sausage, with no one disappointed.

Roasted Bell Peppers and Sausage Penne Pasta

Let’s talk meat. If you go with chicken, don’t boil it. It falls apart when you add it to the sauce towards the end of cooking and becomes shredded. Sauteéd or grilled chicken is perfect because it has that “toughness” from being on the heat and will stay together for you to enjoy all the flavorful goodness together. You’ll only need about 1 ½ cups of chicken.

If you choose to sauteé the chicken, cook it first or add it to the pan when you cook the sausage. If you grill it, add the chicken when you add the heavy cream.

I’ve used several types of sausage over the years: Italian, Spicy Italian, Andouille, and Turkey Kielbasa. Depending on what flavor I want, Italian and Andouille are the two I use the most often.

Roasting the bell peppers gives this dish a smoky flavor. It’s easy to roast your own peppers. I put them on a pan under the broiler for about 20 minutes turning the peppers every 5 minutes.

Is roasting bell peppers not your thing? You can use jarred roasted bell peppers. You must drain them well and place them on paper towels to remove as much of the water before adding them to the pan to cook. They don’t have that smokey taste but works perfectly when your time is pinched.

Roasted Bell Peppers and Sausage Penne Pasta

Ingredients:

• 2 red bell pepper

• oil for peppers

• 1 pound sausage

• 1-2 cloves garlic minced

• 1 small onion minced

• 2 Tablespoons Basil

• 2 cups heavy cream, separated

• 1 cup grated Romano Cheese

• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat broiler.

• Rub oil on peppers and place on a pan. Place under broiler, turn the peppers over every 5 minutes until the skin starts to char, and the pepper is soft.

Peppers need to cool for easy handling. Remove skin and seeds. Cut into small pieces.

• In a frying pan, cook sausage until cooked through and remove from pan. Add garlic, basil, onion, and bell peppers to pan and cook until onions are translucent. Pour the onion and pepper mixture into a food processor or blender and puree. Place back into the pan.

• Over low to medium heat, add 1 ½ cups of heavy cream and the Romano cheese. Stirring constantly so it doesn’t burn until the cheese has melted. This mixture will become thick.

• Add the meat back to the pan, stirring, add salt and pepper. Thin sauce with extra cream if needed.