Homemade Orecchiette with Sausage, Roasted Peppers and Savoy Spinach

I’m so proud of myself this week.  I planned out all our dinners for this week which means I can get some prep work done the night before and make my life that much easier. 

Last night I made Gourmet’s Fresh Semolina Orecchiette (I know, not a proper way to spend St. Patty’s Day).  I put half of it in the fridge and the other half in the freezer.  So all I had to do tonight when I got home was roast the peppers and cook everything up.  Easy.  I used one cup whole wheat flour in place of all purpose and I’m not sure if that was a good idea.  The orecchiette tasted a lil too cardboardish, but overall went really nicely with the sausage and peppers.

Orecchiette with Sausage and Roasted Peppers

from Martha!

Ingredients

Serves 6

• 2 medium red bell peppers, four flat sides sliced off core, ribs and seeds discarded
• 2 medium yellow bell peppers, four flat sides sliced off core, ribs and seeds discarded
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 pound orecchiette or other short pasta
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings (I used chorizo, it was all I had)
• 1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Heat broiler. Place peppers, skin side up, on a foil-lined baking sheet; broil 4 inches from heat until charred, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap; steam 2 to 3 minutes. Using a paper towel, rub off pepper skins, reserving any juices in bowl. Thinly slice peppers crosswise into 1/4-inch strips; return to bowl. Set aside.
2. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente, according to package instructions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta water.
3. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook sausage, breaking it up with a spoon, until browned, 7 to 10 minutes. Add roasted peppers (I threw in some savoy spinach from the share too); cook until heated through.
4. Transfer sausage mixture to bowl; add pasta, butter, reserved pasta water, and Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine.