calabrian chili pepper pasta with sausage and basil

operation kitchen clean out day 8, and things have taken a swing into the ‘real meals’ realm again! had a very scary but tasty detour into buttered and cheesy noodles land for a few days straight, but we’ve rummaged some more and bought supplementary fresh herbs and a bag of brussel sprouts so vegetables can once again be apart of life in between the dry goods and all is mostly right as we count down the days until The Move (it’s 2. 2 more days!!). if i’m being honest, i am having full-on, very sensory daydreams about making beautiful, grandiose, super-themed meals, and ticking off the seconds in my head until I don’t live alone so doing something like that makes marginal sense (i’ve got a whole subcategory of daydream involving disney movies and making conceptual dinners to coincide. who would i be if I didn’t, honestly?)

circling back to pasta-related business, this one is goooooood. i used a fun trader joe’s find - calabrian chili pepper paste - tossed it with some sausage, big rigatoni noodles, basil, lemon, and a generous amount of cheese, and was a very happy gal roughly 20 minutes later. much spicy, most easy!

*speaking of, why yes i am eating this calabrian chili pepper pasta with sausage and basil cold for breakfast as i type this and yes it is the best decision i’ve made this week.

a few things before we get started:

- if you do not like anything remotely spicy, i thank you kindly for reading this far, but this recipe really isn’t for you. there’s no way around the heat from the calabrian chili paste, and the zing makes this FIRE (in a good way, unless of course, you are spice-averse)
- use any kind of ground sausage you like. i went with mild because it has a touch more sweetness than spicy
- a gluten-free pasta will work juuuuust dandy here, so use whatever makes your heart and belly happy
- because this dish has so much heat, the basil and lemon play off it to brighten and lighten things up
- cheese on pasta, pasta on cheese, a love story
- this is a great super-quick weeknight dinner that will clock you about 20 minutes or less from start to finish. go forth with your evenings, frantic plans, and jam-packed nights (…is that a thing in these quarantimes?)

calabrian chili pepper pasta with sausage and basil
makes 4-6 servings
prep time: 5 minutes
cook time: 15 minutes

1lb rigatoni pasta (any pasta with ridging will work!)
1lb mild or spicy ground italian sausage
1 onion, thinly sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3c calabrian chili pepper paste (i used this one from trader joes, but any will do!)
1c fresh basil, chopped
juice and zest from 1 lemon
1/2c grated parmesan cheese
1/2tbsp olive oil
1tsp salt

cook pasta according to the package instructions. reserve 1/2c of the pasta water before draining (this will help bind the sauce!)

meanwhile, heat the oil over medium high heat. add the onion and garlic, and saute for a minute or so until the garlic is fragrant, then add the sausage and salt. break up the sausage into crumbles as it browns. sear for 5-7 minutes until the sausage is completely cooked through, then add the cooked pasta, chili pepper paste, basil, lemon zest and juice, and parmesan to the pan. toss to combine, adding the reserved pasta water to help the sauce coat the pasta.

i like to dish this up and serve with extra basil, parmesan, and a crack of pepper.