Sausage and Peppers Rustica

Last updated: July 15th, 2024

As we head into the colder months of the year, we find ourselves craving warm, cozy dishes like pasta and soup more often. Not only are these fall and winter dinners super comforting, but they’re typically quick and easy to make after a long, busy day. Which is why we especially love hearty, creamy dishes like our Italian sausage and peppers rustica – served with a side of rustic Italian bread, of course! This savory pasta is the perfect easy weeknight dinner you can prepare in under 30 minutes.

Growing up, my mom used to make a recipe called sausage and pepper rustica: penne pasta with Italian gravy, sliced sausage, and sautéed bell peppers. The savory sausage and warm bell peppers paired so deliciously with my mom’s spicy pasta sauce that it was one of my favorite cold weather dinners. So I drew inspiration from these comforting flavors to craft my own recipe for pasta with Italian sausage and peppers.

This Italian style sausage and peppers pasta is so creamy, comforting, and cozy, it’s hard to resist eating the whole batch in one sitting. It’s everything you could want in a homemade pasta dinner! The flavors all meld together and the pasta soaks up the creamy sauce for hearty, savory goodness in every bite.

Sausage And Peppers Pasta Recipe Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this easy sausage and peppers pasta:

• Fettuccine
• Hot Italian ground sausage
• Olive oil
• Garlic
• Red bell pepper
• Onion
• Crushed tomatoes
• Water
• Seasonings – crushed red pepper flakes, dried basil, dried oregano, and salt

A thicker pasta noodle like fettuccine supports the creamy sauce and sausage in this pasta dish, but you can also use spaghetti or linguine. Diced red bell pepper and yellow onion offer some sweetness and freshness to contrast the savory, fatty sausage for a well-balanced flavor. And canned crushed tomatoes, along with some water, make up an easy base for your creamy pasta sauce. Finally, seasoning this dish with garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, basil, oregano, and salt brings out those delicious Italian flavors!

While we wouldn’t necessarily describe this sausage and peppers pasta dish as super spicy, the hot Italian sausage does give it some heat. Spicy sausage adds an extra punch of flavor for a pasta dinner that’s not overly spicy, but has just enough heat to warm your insides – like a good comfort food dinner should! You can substitute with regular Italian sausage, but note that it’ll result in a milder flavor profile.

How To Make Sausage And Peppers Rustica Pasta

To make this creamy sausage and peppers pasta, you’ll only need two pieces of cookware: a large pot for boiling the pasta, and a large frying pan for making the sauce. The peppers, onions, and sausage all cook together, and then the sauce is built around these ingredients to fully incorporate all the delicious, fatty flavor of the sausage. This is what makes this dish so creamy!

Here’s how to make Italian style sausage and peppers rustica at home:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions.
2. While the pasta cooks, sauté peppers, onions, and garlic in olive oil in a large frying pan until fragrant. Add ground sausage, breaking it up into small pieces with your spatula as you incorporate it with the peppers and onions. Cook until sausage is browned and fully cooked through.
3. Next, stir in the crushed tomatoes, water, and seasonings. Don’t drain the sausage before this step – you want to incorporate all those flavors into the sauce. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until the sauce thickens slightly.
4. Drain the cooked pasta and then add it to the sauce. Stir to coat well, then remove from heat. Serve immediately with an optional side of Italian bread!

Building the sauce right around the juicy sausage, peppers, and onions helps the flavors meld together into a deliciously creamy, savory, barely spicy coating for the pasta noodles. Make sure to add the cooked pasta to the sauce at the end – this ensures the pasta gets fully coated in sauce and soaks up all the flavors.

Try the recipe below and indulge in the most comforting bowl of Italian sausage pasta you can cook at home! Don’t forget to subscribe to our email list to get more tasty recipes like this one delivered straight to your inbox.

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Love this recipe? You may enjoy these recipes, too:

• Spaghetti Carbonara (No Egg)
• Fettuccine Alouette-o
• Easy Baked Penne
• Slow Cooker Italian Meatballs