Calamarata with Sausage and Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce

When I saw these big, fat pasta tubes called Calamarata on a recent trek to Fresh Market, I couldn’t resist.  They’re similar to rigatoni but without the ridges and even bigger to give meat and sauce more room to hide out.

My first thought was my usual tomato and sausage dish but I decided to change it up a bit.  This is just as easy and every bit as tasty.

This time around I used a bunch of chicken broth because….gasp….I was out of white wine.  The tomato paste is a total afterthought as well, so use it if it sounds good to you.

• Calamarata (or rigatoni), 1 pound
• Italian Sausage, 1 to 1.5 pounds
• Garlic, 4 or 5 cloves
• Olive Oil, a couple tablespoons
• Red Bell Peppers, 2
• Chicken Stock or Broth, 2 cups  OR White Wine, 1 cup and Chicken Broth, 1 cup
• Cream, 1 cup
• Tomato Paste, 2 tablespoons  (Optional)
• Asiago or Parmesan

Preheat the broiler.  Rinse the peppers and cut them in half from stem to the bottom.  Pull out the stem, seeds and ribs and place them cut side down on a small pan or tray.  Put them just a couple of inches under the broiler and let them cook until the skins are blackened, maybe 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, mince the garlic and remove the sausage from the casing.

Chop the sausage a little, until it’s a bit like the texture of ground beef.  Even easier is buying in bulk without the casing.

Put a big pot of water on for the pasta and heat a little olive oil in a large saute pan over medium to medium-high heat.

Brown the sausage and add the garlic, cooking for another few minutes until the garlic is soft.  Add the wine/and or broth and let it simmer until it’s reduced a bit.

By now the peppers are probably done and even cooled just about enough that you can handle them to remove the charred skins.

Now dice them up.

Stir the peppers, tomato paste and cream into the sausage mixture and reduce the heat to low.  By now the water should be ready for the pasta dump it in and cook until it’s just al dente.

When the pasta is done, drain it and dump it in with the sauce.  Stir over low heat for a minute or two, until it’s well-coated and mixed.

Serve it up hot, topped with your favorite freshly-grated cheese.  Enjoy!

Tagged as: garlic, pasta, red pepper, sausage