Pasta with Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Creamy Red Pepper Pasta with tender noodles, rich tomato cream sauce, fresh herbs, cheesy parmesan, and savory sausage in just 30 minutes. Make this with a side salad and some garlic bread and leave the table the happiest you’ve been in weeks. 

If you love Italian pasta dishes as much as I do, then you’ll also want to make my One Pot Creamy Pesto Chicken Pasta, my Spicy Tomato Garlic Shrimp Pasta, and my Baked Ziti with Ricotta and Sausage. 

Why This Recipe Works 

Delicious — If just the idea of red pepper sauce sounds yummy, imagine making (and eating) it. Friends, I almost couldn’t wait for it to be done to dive right into it. And I did have my fair share of BLTs (bites, licks, and tastes) along the way. It’s creamy and has a mild red pepper flavor that you just won’t be able to get enough of. 

Quick — Roasted red pepper sauce, noodles, and Italian sausage all ready in half an hour? Sounds too good to be true but it’s not! Add this dinner dish to your rotation when you’re in a hurry, you won’t regret it. 

Ground Italian sausage — This pasta with red pepper sauce is delicious on its own but add ground Italian sausage and it’s even better. The saltiness and texture of the sausage pairs so well with this dish. In fact, I think this recipe would work well with any kind of sausage. I’ve made it with parmesan chicken sausage as well as a chorizo and all have been so good!

Reheats well — Even if you’re not typically a fan of leftovers, I think this dish may change your mind. In my opinion this reheats so well the next day, and the next. Which makes me think, this would be a great dish to meal prep for work lunches or when you need a quick heat-and-eat dish for a busy evening.

Ingredients 

Short pasta noodles — Short noodles like ziti or rigatoni are great in this dish because they help hold the sauce so you get a yummy bite of red pepper sauce with each noodle.

Jar roasted red bell peppers — You want to use a jar of red peppers in this sauce. They are nice and soft and in a lovely brine that helps bring out the flavor of the red peppers.

Chicken broth — The addition of a little chicken broth helps thin out the red peppers and gives a little extra salt and flavor to the sauce.

Tomato sauce — Tomato sauce helps “cut” the red pepper flavor to mellow it a bit and bring touch of the tomato flavor into the pasta sauce.

Ground Italian sausage — If you don’t have ground Italian sausage, you can use Italian sausage links (either cook them whole and slice into medallions or remove the meat from the casing before cooking). 

Flour — A bit of flour helps thicken the sauce. 

Heavy cream — I like a bit of heavy cream in this sauce at the end to make it a bit creamier, richer, and thicker. You can leave this out if you prefer.

Here’s How You Make it

Don’t be turned off by the seemingly long list of instructions. They’re mostly pantry staples and I went all-out in breaking down the recipe for you so it’s absolutely no-fail. You’ll thank me!

1. The first thing I do is cook my pasta noodles and toss them with olive oil (to keep them from sticking) then put them aside. Next, I add the roasted red peppers, broth, and the tomato sauce to a blender and blend it all up. Set the blended sauce aside as well. 

2. Now it’s time to get down to cooking. I put that delicious sausage in a large skillet and saute until it starts to brown. Next, I add my diced onions and let those soften and the sausage starts to cook down. Finally, follow up that cooking and browning action with the best part — the minced garlic. I let that cook another minute until it gets nice and fills the whole house with that lovely garlic smell. Then, I toss in the spices and flour. 

3. I gently pour in the red pepper sauce, bring the sauce to a boil with the meat, veggies, and spices and give it a stir here and there. The sauce will thicken up after about 5-8 minutes. Once that happens, I stir in the heavy cream and some S&P to taste. 

4. Finally — I add in the pasta and parm until it gets all gooey and melted. Then, I garnish with some fresh herbs (parsely, oregano, thyme, basil, whatever I’m in the mood for), a little more pepper like I’m a server at a fancy restaurant and serve it up to all my loved ones (including myself). 

FAQs

Expert Tips and Tricks

I love to add a dash of this and a little of that to a lot of my meals. 

• Add spinach to the pasta dish during step 7 so that they just wilt before you eat them. 
• You could also add any other leftover veggies that you have in your fridge that you want to use up. I’m a big fan of adding chopped broccoli or cauliflower to pasta dishes. 
• If you can’t get enough of that red pepper flavor, add diced red peppers to the mix as well, it will add a little more texture to the pasta dish. 
• Try a mixture of parmesan and another cheese if you like. I like ricotta, gruyere, and buffalo mozzarella. 
• You know what else is amazing with roasted red peppers? Artichokes. Don’t cook them yourself (cuz, that’s a total pain), buy a jar or a can and drain it and toss them in at the end. 
• Add fresh or canned mushrooms to the dish for another way to add more/different texture to the mix. 

More Delicious Pasta Recipes

• One Pot Chicken Parmesan Pasta – one pot full of comfort!
• Four Cheese Baked Ziti – the ultimate cheesy dinner everyone will love.
• Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta – rich, savory, and ready in minutes.
• Chicken Alfredo with Broccoli – perfection in every bite.