(55) Sausage and Roasted Pepper Pasta

I have to tell you, I LOVE roasted peppers. I also love Italian sausage, so this recipe was a winner to me! It took a little longer to put together than I would have liked (but was not hard or overly time consuming by any means...). I should have just planned it out better.

Anyway, for some reason my Publix still only has sweet Italian turkey sausage, not the hot, so I added some red pepper flakes. YUM. When the dish was finishing (to the adding pasta stage) I actually said to my husband "I'm not so sure about this one!" But a few minutes of simmer/boil and the sauce really did come together.

The portions are HUGE - you could easily make 6 meals out of this one, IMO. Very filling, very flavorful. Will repeat this one...

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Sausage and Roasted Pepper Pasta

Four assertive ingredients tossed with mild pasta make for a simple, satisfying supper. Try a mix of red and green peppers in this recipe.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/2 cups pasta mixture and 1 tablespoon cheese)
Source: Cooking Light Magazine, March 2009

4 medium bell peppers (about 1 1/2 pounds) - I used 2 red, 1 yellow, 1 green just for variety
8 ounces uncooked penne pasta
12 ounces hot turkey Italian sausage
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1. Preheat broiler.

2. Cut bell peppers in half lengthwise; discard seeds and membranes. Place pepper halves, skin sides up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; flatten with hand. Broil 10 minutes or until thoroughly blackened. Place bell peppers in a zip-top plastic bag; seal. Let stand 15 minutes. Peel; discard skins. Chop and set aside.

3. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid; keep warm.

4. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage to pan, and cook 8 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Add bell peppers to pan. Move sausage mixture to outside edges of pan, leaving an open space in center. Add tomato paste to open space in pan; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir tomato paste into sausage mixture. Stir in pasta and reserved cooking liquid; cook 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Stir in black pepper and salt. Sprinkle with cheese.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 430, Fat: 11.5g (sat 3.7g,mono 4.4g,poly 1.3g), Protein: 28.9g, Carbohydrate:52.4g, Fiber: 4.4g, Cholesterol: 79mg, Iron: 4.4mg, Sodium: 894mg, Calcium: 79mg