Orecchiette with Sausage & Roasted Peppers

Found my camera! Corey likes to serve this pasta with spaghetti sauce. This recipe is from Martha Stewart Everyday Food, September 2004 (an original!).

ORECCHIETTE WITH SAUSAGE & PEPPERS

Recipe Notes

You can use any short pasta with this recipe. As you will see when I get my pictures posted, I used "wagon wheel" pasta because Randall's didn't have orecchiette (which I think is Italian for "elephant's ear"?) at the store that day. I skip the oil that you are supposed to use in the skillet with the Italian sausage, because to me the sausage is fatty enough on its own to render out nicely.

Ingredients

• 2 medium red bell peppers, four flat sides sliced off the core, ribs and seeds discarded
• 2 medium yellow peppers, same preparation as red peppers
• Coarse salt & ground pepper
• 1 lb. orecchiette or other short pasta
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 lb. sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings
• 1 tbsp. butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/3 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Place peppers, skin side up, on a foil-lined baking sheet. Broil until charred, approximately 4 inches from heat source (18-20 minutes).

2. Transfer to a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and steam 2-3 minutes.

3. Using a paper towel, rub off pepper skins, reserving juices in bowl. (Somehow, I never have any "juices" that appear, so don't be alarmed if you don't have much liquid in the bowl).

4. Thinly slice peppers crosswise and return to bowl. Set aside.

5. Cook pasta until al dente in a pot of salted water. Drain and reserve 1/2 c. pasta water.

6. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat (or, if you are like me, skip this step).

7. Cook sausage until browned, 7-10 minutes. Add roasted peppers and cook until heated through.

8. Toss pasta, pasta water, sausage, butter, and Parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Makes six BIG servings!