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Pasta Shells with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

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Roasted Red Pepper Sauce all over Pasta Shells with Italian Sausage. The perfect fall comfort food.

red pepper pasta with italian sausage



 

You guys, this roasted red pepper sauce with pasta shells and Italian sausage is simply the best comfort food out there. You see this time of year I view comfort food as a necessity to motivate me to get my butt outside and go for a walk or run so I can continue to eat my comfort food! Salads are great too in the fall if your pantry is stocked with craisins, roasted almonds, and quinoa to give your salad some substance. But every once in awhile, I reach for my comfort food to remind myself that I am absolutely 100% due for some exercise. It’s the perfect reminder! 😂

Here are the main ingredients in this Roasted Red Pepper Sauce:

  • 3 Roasted Red Peppers
  • 1/2 yellow onion
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 teaspoon Spanish paprika
  • Pinch of salt and pepper
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

 

The Red Bell Peppers are roasted under the broiler for 5-10 minutes. In a large fry pan, the onions and garlic are cooked and combined with the chopped roasted red peppers, seasonings, and Parmesan. The mixture is then pureed in a food processor and returned to the pan.

To thin the sauce out a little, 1/4-1/2 cup pasta water is added to it. Stir in the pasta until it is coated and dinner is on its waaaay!! I added Italian sausage to the pasta because I love how much flavor sausage already has. You could also serve it with chicken breasts.

pasta shells with roasted red pepper pasta with italian sausage

 

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce is a nice variation to the usual marinara sauce. And the Italian sausage add some spiciness to the meal that I just can’t get over. It’s the perfect combination!

I gotta divulge something- so my husband gave this meal an 8.75. Pretty good, right?! Well I’m going to let you in on another little secret. I ate my bowl of pasta and felt pretty darn good about the results. Well for an 8.75, my husband ate his, went back to the pan of pasta and finished off the rest of these delicious pasta shells with roasted red pepper sauce. 8.75, huh?! Whatevs.

 

pasta shells with roasted red pepper pasta with italian sausage

 

Happy Monday and to all those comfort food vibes…let’s keep ’em coming!

One more secret…after days and days of heavy clouds I didn’t pay close enough attention to my camera settings and the sun was a wee bit brighter than I was thinking. I promise the pasta doesn’t look so orange in real life. 😳

 

red pepper pasta with italian sausage

Pasta Shells with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Megan
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce all over Pasta Shells with Italian Sausage. The perfect fall comfort food.
5 from 1 vote
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Dinner
Cuisine Pasta

Ingredients
  

  • 3 red bell peppers
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 yellow onion chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon Spanish paprika
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
  • Pinch salt and pepper
  • 1/2 cup reserved pasta water
  • 8 oz medium pasta shells
  • 1 cup kale chopped
  • 3/4 lb Italian sausage

Instructions
 

Roast Red Peppers

  • Preheat broiler for 5 minutes.
  • While preheating, slice red peppers in half and remove seeds and membranes. Now is also a good time to chop up onion and garlic. Place pepper halves on baking sheet, skin side up. Broil for 5-10 minutes, checking frequently until skin is charred.
  • Remove skin on peppers that is easy to remove, trying to get most of it off. If it's not that easy, just leave it on because it will still taste great.
  • Coarsely chop red peppers. Set aside

Cook Pasta

  • Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and cook pasta shells 1-2 minutes short of al dente according to package instructions. DON'T forget to reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water for later.

Red Pepper Sauce

  • Meanwhile, in a dutch oven or large fry pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.
  • Add onion, and sauté for 3-4 minutes or until softened. Stir in garlic and cook for about another minute.
  • Add in the chopped red peppers.
  • Transfer mixture to food processor and pulse until it reaches a sauce consistency. Add Spanish paprika, salt and pepper, and Parmesan cheese. Pulse 1-2 more times.
  • Return mixture to fry pan and add 1/4 cup reserved pasta water. Stir mixture until combined.
  • Add pasta and stir to coat. Add remaining 1/4 cup pasta water if needed and stir it up good. Toss in chopped kale and stir.
  • Cook on medium low for 5-10 minutes to let flavors combine.

Brown Sausage

  • In a separate fry pan, cook Italian sausage until browned, approximately 8-10 minutes. Add sausage to pasta and stir to combine. Serve.

 

 

pasta shells with roasted red pepper sauce and italian sausage

 

More Delicious Pasta Dinners

 

Cozy Fall Lobster Mac & Cheese

cozy fall lobster mac and cheese

 

Creamy Linguine Bowls

creamy linguine bowls with sun-dried tomatoes

 

Cajun Style Andouille, Kale, and Barley Stew

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Welcome! How are you today? Glad to have you here at 3SS!! I am excited to share this post with you today! This Cajun style andouille, kale, and barley stew is going to knock your socks off! Your bowl will quickly find itself empty and without a drop leftover…this stew is amazing. There are so many different textures and the spiciness of the sausage gives the stew great flavor.

andouille sausage, kale, and barley stew

Soups and stews are great, in my opinion, during the fall and winter months. They warm you up quickly and can provide you with a lot of nutrients. It isn’t everyday I can convince my husband to eat kale, but his bowl of stew was gone so fast you would not have even known kale was an ingredient. Kale is packed with nutrition. It is a nutrition powerhouse. Kale is high in Vitamins A, C, and K. Adding kale to soups is a great way to tame down the bitterness of the vegetable.

Daylight savings time has come to an end. How ’bout that extra hour of sleep, eh?! I am pretty sure here it was an extra hour of trying to tame my 3 kiddos down in this hotel room. I feel so sorry for whomever is below us. There is endless running, spinning, jumping, and screaming going on in our room. I am actually amazed we have not received a call about the amount of noise our kids let out. As a little getaway, we decided to make a trip to my parent’s cabin over the weekend for some much-needed outdoor time, relaxation (ha! ha!), and great food! I must say it is amazing that we haven’t just eaten at McDonald’s and Runza night after night. It is tempting once in a while though. If it weren’t for me, I think my husband would actually go for that. I like to think that I am in charge of what we eat…most of the time anyway. 😉

A day at the cabin. In the Fall. Must have soup.

Why Andouille sausage, kale, and barley stew? Because why not?

I used Cajun style andouille sausage to give the stew a bit of a kick, but you wouldn’t have to use spicy sausage. I just thought it really completed the meal.

andouille sausage, kaley, and barley stew

andouille sausage, kaley, and barley stew

Time Out…picture time!! 🙂

kids at cabin in fall

It is not an easy task to take a picture of a 2, 3, and 4-year-old and get all three of them to smile for more than a half a second. But I will take what I can get! I will remember these weekend cabin days forever. It is so peaceful and relaxing…besides the constant head count of my kids making sure they are far enough away from the river. I mean let’s get real…there is not a lot of relaxation at our house unless it is the middle of the night and I am sleeping. And that isn’t always a guarantee.

andouille sausage, kale, and barley stew

Try this soup out because you will enjoy it!! This recipe was adapted from Williams Sonoma.

andouille sausage, kale, and barley stew

Cajun Style Andouille, Kale, and Barley Stew

3 Scoops of Sugar
Soup with a kick! Try this Cajun Style Andouille, Kale, and Barley Stew to warm you up during the winter months!!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 40 minutes
Total Time 55 minutes
Course Soup

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb cajun style andouille sausage
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 cup quick cooking barley
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
  • 6 cups chicken broth
  • 4 cups kale stemmed and chopped
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
 

  • COOK BARLEY-Pour water into a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Add barley with a pinch of salt. Reduce heat to low and cover. Cook barley for 10-12 minutes and drain. Set aside for later use.
  • COOK SAUSAGE- In a dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium-high heat. Add sausage and brown each side for a total of about 7 minutes. Transfer sausage to a paper-towel lined plate and set aside.
  • MIX STEW INGREDIENTS- Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil, onion, and garlic to the dutch oven. Saute for about 4 minutes. Slice sausage links and return them to the dutch oven. Cook for about another 5 minutes or until sausage is thoroughly cooked. Add can of tomatoes and chicken broth. Bring contents to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the barley and kale and cook until kale just starts to wilt. Season with salt and pepper if desired.
  • Serve and enjoy!

 

 

Pumpkin Linguine with Kale & Walnuts

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OMG! PUMPKIN LINGUINE WITH KALE & WALNUTS! Pumpkin pasta, where have you been all my life? Eating this pumpkin linguine make me think I am in some fancy lil restaurant enjoying a bowl of crazy good pasta but much to my surprise I am sitting at our dinner table with the hubs. 🙂 All the better!! Simply because that is my goal–to bring simple, healthy, and delicious homemade meals into your home.

pumpkin linguine with kale and walnuts

For the longest time, cooking pasta has been a little intimidating for me. Basically, there is one main reason: 1) How do I get not only perfect tasting but also looking noodles? I have had noodles that are mushy, ones that stick together like white on rice, and once in awhile noodles that turn out okay. But I want better noodles than that! I want restaurant quality noodles that swirl around on my fork just perfectly with a taste that makes me go “WOW!” AND THAT IS WHAT I AM GOING TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT TODAY!!

The credit for this pasta making process goes to Bon Appetit. I grabbed my latest issue the other day and immediately noticed on the cover there it was, “How to make perfect pasta.” Yes! I thought, finally! I need to read more into this because I simply love pasta, especially in the fall and winter months when I am loving some warm, comfort food. It isn’t even about the pasta itself that I like. I have this picture in my mind that on a cold, Fall evening it would be so cozy to grab a bowl of yummy pasta and sit in front of the fire cuddling up with my hubs and kiddos. I mean, honestly how fun does that sound?!! I think it sounds awesome!!

pumpkin linguine with kale and walnuts

Pasta Making Secrets

1. Use a dutch oven. A large pot like this will prevent your pasta from falling out the sides and making a mess meaning less cleanup for you!
2. Create your flavors. Start with heating olive oil in the Dutch oven. Use enough oil to cover the bottom and heat over medium-low heat. Add aromatics like garlic or shallots to add flavor to your pasta. Next, begin adding mushrooms, onions, or additional veggies until they are tender. In this recipe I started with garlic and added onions.
3. Get the pasta going. In a pot of salted water, cook the noodles until they are several minutes shy of al dente. I cooked linguine in a pot of water for 5 minutes. Then transfer noodles with pasta fork to the Dutch oven. Add a cup of pasta water as well. The noodles should be swimming in the liquid and the liquid should be bubbling.
4. Toss, toss, and toss again. Toss the pasta again and again as the pasta finishes cooking. Add a little more pasta water if needed. Toss some more and then slowly stir in some grated cheese like Parmesan until it melts completely.
5. Finish it up. Continue tossing pasta until each strand is coated and no bits of grated cheese remain. Remove from heat and if desired add cheese on top.

pumpkin linguine with kale and walnuts

The steps above are a great tool to cooking any pasta because it takes the pressure off the recipe and emphasizes the pasta cooking process. It is easy to change things up using these steps and have an entirely different meal with just a few change of ingredients! Love these pasta cooking tricks!!

Now it is time to enjoy some delicious pumpkin linguine with kale and walnuts!!

pumpkin linguine with kale and walnuts

Pumpkin Linguine with Kale & Walnuts

Pumpkin Linguine with Kale & Walnuts

3 Scoops of Sugar
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main Dish

Ingredients
  

  • 8 oz linguine
  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1/4 cup yellow onion chopped
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 cup pasta water
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese + more for garnishing if desired
  • 1 cup loosely packed kale
  • 2 tablespoons half and half
  • crushed walnuts

Instructions
 

  • Heat olive oil over medium-low heat in Dutch oven. Olive oil should cover the entire bottom. Add garlic and onions and saute for 2-3 minutes or long enough for onions to soften. Add pumpkin puree, nutmeg, and chicken broth. Stir to combine.
  • In the meantime, in a pot of salted water, cook linguine until several minutes prior to al dente. I cooked the linguine in the pot for 5 minutes. Then transfer linguine with pasta fork to Dutch oven. Add 1 cup pasta water with noodles. Noodles should be swimming in the liquid and liquid should be bubbling.
  • Toss the pasta continuously for a few minutes. Add more pasta water if needed. Toss again and then add Parmesan cheese slowly and toss linguine until cheese has melted completely and coats pasta evenly.
  • Add kale and half and half and stir until kale has just wilted. Remove from heat.
  • Serve topped with walnuts and grated Parmesan if desired.
  • Enjoy!

 

 

pumpkin linguine with kale and walnuts