What a great weekend guys! My family and friends went up to a house on Whidbey Island (which is north west of Seattle). We spent all weekend laughing, cooking, eating and drinking our body weight in Rose. It was great.
And one thing I love is that there was no TV so the kids played endlessly out on the beach and in the big grassy yard- they even made a drift wood teepee masterpiece. And we couldn’t get any wi-fi for two days so even the grownups were forced to “unplug” which was so difficult/great.
But yesterday the biggest freakiest wind storm of all time hit the island- well actually all over the Washington coast and Puget Sound. I cannot even remotely express to you how insane it was. We lost power for a while and watched boats and docks blow right by in the water. There were trees uprooted and driftwood flying. We were housebound all day and then had to come back a day early because of the lack of electricity. 
It was a gorgeous weekend but coming home to luxuries like tv, working washing machines and dishwashers- It turns out that I am a big fan of electric appliances! So when we get home exhausted we want a fast and easy dinner- something like this pasta dish. I used the most wonderful sweet cherry peppers that I found at the farmers market, but those mini sweet bell peppers that they sell everywhere from the grocery store to Costco would work really well too. The key is to pick sweet peppers not spicy!
So we enjoyed this while watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding for the 467th time and then dug into some of these cookies to cap off the weekend. So good!
Recipe: Pasta with Spicy Sausage and Sweet Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 pound gluten free pasta
- 1 pound spicy Italian pork sausage, without the casing
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 red onion, thinly sliced
- 2 cups sweet peppers (I used cherry peppers)
- kosher salt
- 1 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- In a large pan add the sausage and cook over medium heat breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Cook until the sausage is lightly browned and mostly cooked through, about 5 minutes. Then transfer the sausage to a bowl.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Put the pasta in to cook until one or two minutes shy of al dente.
- While the pasta is cooking, put the pan with the sausage bits back on the stove and add the olive oil and the onion. Saute over medium heat until soft and tender, 5 minutes and then add the peppers and cook another 5 minutes. Add the sausage back in and stir everything together.
- Reserve one half cup of pasta water and then drain the pasta. Add the pasta to the pan with the onions and sausage and add part of the pasta water stirring to make a sauce and coat the noodles. Season to taste with kosher salt. Toss the pasta with fresh basil leaves and transfer to a platter.
Preparation time: 5 minute(s)
Cooking time: 15 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 4
Love how easy and tasty this meal is!
That storm sounds crazy! This pasta – crazy good!
This pasta has me all hungry now!! I saw those storms on tv and omg, so crazy!!
Another lovely colorful dinner! Can’t wait to whip this one up!
Isn’t it secretly the best when you’re forced to unplug? so glad you got a weekend away with your family and were able to stay safe in the storm! I’m all about the quick and easy Sunday night pasta dinners too — definitely storing this one away for later!
Sounds like a great trip & the teepee sounds awesome! Beautiful pasta styling & now on my to-do list!