Linguine With Summer Peppers And Sausage Recipes

LINGUINE WITH PEPPERS AND SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente.
• While the pasta is cooking, prepare the sauce. Saute sausages in a heavy skillet over medium high heat until light brown, breaking up clumps with back of spoon. Add peppers, onion, and garlic; saute until tender. Add wine and simmer until liquid is slightly reduced, about 6 minutes.
• Drain pasta, and add to the skillet. Toss to combine. Add cheese, and toss to blend. Serve.

SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS PASTA BAKE

Steps:

• Heat a 4 1/2-quart Dutch oven over medium heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and heat until hot, about 1 minute. Break up the sausage into small pieces, add to the Dutch oven and cook, without stirring, until the sausage is caramelized on the bottom, about 2 minutes. Begin to break up the sausage into smaller pieces with a wooden spoon and continue to cook, stirring often, until caramelized all over, cooked through and broken into 1/2-inch pieces, another 4 to 5 minutes. Transfer the sausage to a paper towel-lined baking sheet and set aside.
• If the Dutch oven is dry, add 1 tablespoon oil if needed and immediately stir in the peppers and onions. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are very soft, about 10 minutes; the vegetables should not take on much color besides what comes from scraping the bottom of the pot to coat them in the sausage flavor.
• Stir in the garlic and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt and cook until the garlic just begins to toast and become fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste coats the vegetables, toasts slightly and becomes a darker shade of red, about 2 minutes. Add the tomato puree, red wine vinegar, dried oregano, basil and 4 cups water. Stir the sauce together and season with additional salt to taste; make sure the sauce is well seasoned since it will season the pasta as well.
• Stir in the rigatoni and bring to a simmer, about 5 minutes. As soon as you see the first few bubbles, simmer for 1 more minute, then remove from the heat. Stir in the reserved sausage. Carefully ladle the mixture into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Discard the basil. Cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate overnight, at least 8 hours. The pasta will soften as it sits in the sauce.
• When ready to bake, remove the baking dish from the refrigerator and uncover. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Dollop the ricotta in 2- to 3-tablespoon mounds over the top of the dish and sprinkle with the Parmesan. Bake until bubbling around the edges and the ricotta begins to brown on top, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes, then garnish with basil leaves and more Parmesan.