The Idea for this recipe came about a few weeks ago after reigniting my love for chicken sausage and trying to quench my desire to eat it on everything. Brittany is a huge fan of anything pasta, so I figured I better make a pasta dish that incorporated this flavorful sausage and maybe throw in some peppers and onions for good measure. The result was a slight variation of a recipe I found on Let the baking begin.
When it comes to chopping your onion and peppers, I would err on the side of larger pieces to preserve their crunch and flavor when being sautéed in the skillet, that way it’s more of a roasted veggie flavor rather than muted flavors/colors.
As far as chicken sausage goes, the sky is the limit! I found 5 varieties at CUB alone, and I’m sure you could find more by utilizing the inter-webs or your local butcher shop. For this recipe, I used an Italian blend that matched the flavor profile I was looking for in the dish, but an Applewood smoked option would have made a wonderful sub as well. If you are having difficulty finding a suitable variety at your local store, check out this one I found on amazon: sausage
The addition of baby spinach is optional, but we had some left over from another recipe and decided to toss it in, giving this pasta dish a lighter note and balancing out the heavy cream that is used for the sauce.
If you are like me; you cringe at the thought of using bouillon cubes in anything… like ANYTHING. The original recipe I found calls for the use of them, but I have an alternative that is similar which packs in way more flavor and doesn’t take an eternity to dissolve. The product is called Broth Base from Orrington Farms, it’s a powder form that only has 12 ingredients as opposed to over 30 (including MSG) found in your typical bouillon cubes. This is my preferred alternative, you can find it here: Broth Base
As you can see, I had to switch pans to combine the noodles with the rest of the dish, because my lodge skillet 
The finishing touch to this recipe is the sliced grape tomatoes, they bring out the color of the peppers and add a touch of sweetness to round out the flavors. I also served with some baked brioche buns that I picked up at the bakery, making this dish a carboholic’s dream!
Notes
You can sub the chicken sausage for pork sausage or turkey sausage, or omit it completely to make this dish vegetarian
Ingredients
- 12-16 oz. fettuccine pasta
- 2 Cups sweet bell pepper (about 2 peppers)
- Cored, seeded, and roughly chopped
- ¾ Cup onion, peeled, diced (about 1 medium onion)
- 2 Cups smoked sausage (12-16 oz), sliced to half inch pieces (I used chicken sausage)
- ⅓ cup chopped parsley
- 2 cups baby spinach
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup pasta water + 4-8 tsp. Broth Base or 1 cup broth
- 3-4 cloves garlic minced
- ½ cup cherry tomatoes, split sliced in half
- 2 tbsp. Olive oil
Instructions
- Cook pasta in salted water according to the package instructions.
- Heat oil in skillet over med-high heat, add the pepper and onion. Sauté until onion starts to turn translucent. If your sausage does not have any cheese in it, you can add it at the same time and brown everything together, otherwise add the sausage after about 1 minute of sautéing the onions and peppers and continue until sausage starts to brown.
- Take 1 cup of pasta water and add 4-8 tsp. Broth Base (depending on preference) and stir everything until dissolved. Alternatively just use 1 cup of hot broth.
- Pour the chicken broth over the peppers and sausage. Add the cream.
- Now add the drained pasta, parsley and garlic. Stir to combine and simmer on medium heat until the sauce is thickened and coats the pasta nicely.
- Reduce heat to low and add baby spinach leaves, once they have wilted, remove from heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Lastly, add the halved cherry tomatoes and stir to combine, then serve hot.