roasted peppers and sausage pasta

I've always been intrigued by the Italian dish 'sausage and peppers', especially immortalised in the scene in Goodfellas, when they're trying to exhume a body quickly, anticipating Tommy's ma's peppers and sausage dinner for supper. I always assumed it would be served with pasta, but a quick Google search seems to reveal it's more likely to be a soft bread roll filling. Mine, therefore, is just plain wrong. Only kidding. Do what you want, adapt and be inspired, I say, no-one is judging you, (hopefully).

The sausages in an authentic Italian version I imagine would be of the delicious hot Italian variety, mine were what were lying in the freezer: English West country, containing a little scrumpy to give them that ooh aah taste. They were quite dense and meaty, important in a sausage, I think, which added a great toothsome satisfaction with the roasted peppers, sweetened with caramelised onions and a little whole grain mustard and pesto.

Recipe : Roasted pepper and sausage pasta

2 sausages, anything you like

1/2 onion, peeled and quartered

2 bell peppers, seeded and quartered

1 tbsp oil

1 tsp butter

1/2 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper

2 bay leaves

a few sprigs of rosemary

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp wholegrain mustard

1 tsp pesto

a handful of spinach, (optional)

spaghetti for one

Heat the oven to 400oF. Lay the sausages, onions and peppers on a baking dish, drizzle with the oil, dot with little pieces of the butter, sprinkle with the salt, black pepper and paprika and tuck the bay leaves and rosemary under the veg. Stir everything well to coat with the oil and bake in the oven for about 20 - 30 minutes until the onion and peppers are soft and slightly caramelised and the sausages cooked through.

Transfer everything to a chopping board, (discarding the bay leaves and rosemary) and roughly chop everything into equal, bite sized pieces. 

Start boiling water for your spaghetti and place the sausages, onions and peppers into a frying pan. Gently heat through over low heat and add the mustard, spinach and pesto, stirring well. Remove from the heat.

Once your spaghetti is cooked, drain, keeping a few tbsp of the cooking water and throw it all into the frying pan with the extra water, (this creates a sauce). Stir everything together over high heat until heated through and add a little more butter if you like.

Serve, maybe with a little cheese sprinkled over.

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