Sausage and Roasted Red Pepper Rigatoni

Tonight's meal was such a success that I decided to do something that I haven't done and have been needing to do in/for a long time! Post a recipe the night I made it! (heck, post a recipe at all!)

So have you ever seen the commercials for the Bertolli bagged meals? Basically they make you think that Bertolli has captured the perfect way to make an Italian meal and that even attempting to make it from scratch would be hopeless... Way to go Bertolli! (don't get me wrong, I actually have enjoyed a couple of the Bertolli meals on the go or when I didn't have enough food on hand to come up with some kind of dinner, but seriously, cooking pasta and making sauce and stirring it all together isn't exactly a science...) Well my husband and I saw this bagged pasta dinner that had sausage and rigatoni and all sorts of yummy goodness in it... and I won't lie, we bought it and thought it was VERY delicious... but when I had a chance to go to the grocery store, I decided to make myself a little challenge against the big B... I bought a red pepper, a jar of pasta sauce (I would have made it from scratch, but time has been of the essence lately and my homemade sauce takes me all day!), a pound of smoked sausage, and a box of rigatoni... I already had garlic, basil (growing outside!), and parmesan at home, so this was all I needed... I want to say it was under $5 total, and the bagged meals cost about $6...



Before I got started I prepped my pepper (deseeding it and slicing it in half) and lined a cookie sheet with foil. Then I turned my broiler on high and plopped the pepper on the cookie sheet and into the oven for about 20 minutes. (in hindsight, my oven rack was kind of low... if it had been higher it would have taken less time).

Once the peppers are super black, toss them into a plastic baggie and let sit for a while so that the steam will loosen the skin off of the pepper. This whole process can be done in advanced... look here for some other amazing roasted red pepper ideas from the fabulous Emily at Joyful Abode! She also gives an amazing step by step instruction on how to roast red peppers... and also how to seed them! She pretty much rocks!

Ok so start a pot of salted water boiling... Once at a rolling boil, add the rigatoni and set your timer to 11 minutes. Meanwhile, heat some EVOO over medium high heat in a large skillet... Chop up your sausage into 1/2 inch thick (or smaller) slices, then toss into the skillet... Once the sausage is close to being browned, add some minced garlic and give it all a good stir... Continue to brown.



Slice the roasted red pepper into thin slices, then toss into the pan with the sausage. Add the jar of sauce and stir...

Drain the rigatoni and add to the sauce and sausage mixture... Stir well and let bubble for a minute.

I topped ours with fresh grated parmesan cheese and basil leaves from our garden, and served with Pillsbury Savorings (the spinach and cream cheese kind are our favorite!). We would have had a fresh salad too, but we were anxious to dig in and didn't want to waste time making a salad! :)


This is a serious two thumbs up!!!!

Some ways to tailor it to your family:

Leave out the red pepper
Add olives
Add sun dried tomatoes
Add mushroom
Add crumbled hot italian sausage
Use spicy sausage instead of smoked
Add ground beef in the sauce/use meat sauce

I am sure there are tons more variations, but this was fabulous just the way we had it! Oh and Landon approved: see for yourself!!!

A Pasta Dish... in the MICROWAVE!!!

Yes, you read correctly! A pasta meal that you can prepare in the microwave!!

Start to finish this will take you barely 20 minutes... And it is SO worth the time!

Also, like most of my recipes, this is one of those completely customizable recipes. I really prefer recipes that are more or less a palette for creativity: everyone has different tastes, diets, food styles, whatever you want to say... It is fantastic to be able to add your personality to a meal!

So anyway, you probably want to know what exactly it is that I have made in the microwave... It is a pasta dish with tomatoes, basil, and lots of other delicious stuff. I cooked some chicken breasts (cut into 3 inch strips, or if you are like me and like to buy the frozen bags of chicken breasts already cut into tenders, use that) in a skillet on top of the stove to go on top of the pasta. I marinated the chicken in wine, italian dressing, and a splash of lemon juice. Then I dumped the chicken and the marinade in the skillet with a few drizzles of olive oil and cooked until nice and goldeny brown and cooked all the way through.

While I was cooking the chicken, I dumped a container of grape tomatoes into a casserole dish that has a cover for it (trust me, you need a cover to keep it from splattering everywhere), and added two baby spoon scoops (ummm maybe 1-2 tsp?) of minced garlic, and microwaved for 4 minutes, stirring halfway through...


(before microwaving)


(after they have popped open)

Once all the tomatoes have "popped" open, you are ready to smoosh them with a mashed potatoes masher, and then add 2-3 cups of uncooked pasta, like rotini, shells, penne, or bowties, 2 cups of chicken broth, and 1 cup of wine.


(I used rotini)

A good rule of thumb is to add the same amount of broth that you added of pasta. I had a weird amount of pasta (since I usually make mine fresh and rarely use dried), so I just measured out my pasta, dumped it in, then measured out the broth to the same amount, and poured it on top. Add freshly ground sea salt and pepper on top, then cover and microwave for 10 minutes. Stir well, then microwave for 5 more minutes.



Stir in 1/4 c grated parmesan cheese (the kind in a can), and 1/4 c shredded parmesan cheese (if you don't have it, just leave it out), and a bunch of chopped basil leaves. Top with chicken, garnish with basil and freshly shredded parmesan and serve.



Okay so I am sure you are thinking "wow this is so simple"... Yes, it is! But you can easily dress it up to go with any meal theme or ingredients that you have...

Some ingredients you could add:
Crisp crumbled bacon
Olives
Capers
Roasted red pepper
Sun dried tomatoes
Artichoke hearts
Leeks (you knew that one was coming!)

I am sure there are many more ideas: surprise me with a few!!!!