This sausage and pasta dish is perfect for cozy weeknights in

Christmas pasta, anyone? 

I find that this is the time of year where large batches of very cozy foods, mostly made in one pot, fit the bill for nearly any occasion or regular meal. Pasta is a perfect dish to make for dinner in front of the 9^th installment of your favorite “I didn’t know I was royal -- LOOK Christmas and love!” Netflix franchise, or to serve for an impromptu dinner party to gather and reminisce over the past year. 

This sausage and peppers pasta is one of our favorites, and it’s my hope that it’ll bring you lots of cheer this month. Merry, merry! 

Pasta with Sausage and Peppers 

Prep: 15 minutes | Cook: 30 minutes | Serves: 4-6  

• 16 ounces short pasta, cooked to al dente with one cup of cooking water reserved 
• 4 links spicy or mild Italian sausage (about one pound) 
• 2 tablespoons olive oil 
• 1 jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced 
• 1 bell pepper, any color, diced 
• 1 small onion or half of a large onion, diced 
• 3 cloves garlic, minced 
• 28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes 
• ½ cup sour cream 
• 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese 
• salt and pepper 
• parsley and parmesan cheese for serving 

Recipe Notes + Tips and Tricks: 

• Cooking the pasta: Be sure to cook your pasta in heavily salted boiling water, and drain it just shy of al dente so that it can cook for a minute in the sauce when you toss everything together. 
• Consider using full fat sour cream. It adds so much to the flavor of the dish and is really lovely in this recipe. 
• If you are gluten free, use gluten free pasta OR turn this into a sausage and peppers over rice dish! 
• If you don't like or have sausage links, you can skip the boiling/browning step and use 1 pound bulk sausage, cooked and crumbled before you add the veggies, and proceed with the recipe. 
• To make this not spicy, skip the jalapeno and use mild Italian sausage - it's still really good this way! 
• Use any pasta you like - I like a short pasta because it "matches" the sausage and veggie pieces, but any pasta is yummy! 
• If you don't have sour cream, heavy cream works great. 
• You can sub whole tomatoes for the crushed - just crush them with your hands as you add them to the sauce so they break up nicely. 
• Make this vegetarian by skipping the sausage and subbing a pint or two of sliced mushrooms - brown them at the beginning before adding the peppers and onions.