Sausage and Peppers Pasta With Broccoli

I love all forms of the Italian classic combination of sausage and peppers. The addition of broccoli here adds nutrition, color and crunch and tossed with the pasta makes an almost complete meal. (Wine and bread?) I couldn’t resist adding some sliced red onion when sauteing the broccoli and peppers, and used sweet Italian chicken sausage to lighten it up a bit. This was a hit at the family dinner table, but then pretty much anything with sausage is! Thanks to Kay Chun of the New York Times for a delicious recipe.

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound sweet Italian pork sausage, casings removed

1 pound broccoli, cut into 1 1/2-inch florets (about 4 cups)

2 medium yellow bell peppers (12 ounces), cored, seeded and thinly sliced (about 2 1/2 cups)

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

Kosher salt and pepper

1 pound rigatoni

1/2 cup grated Parmesan (2 ounces), plus more for serving

2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice (from about 1/2 lemon)

1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Heat 2 Tbs. oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up the meat using a wooden spoon, until browned, about 5 minutes. Scrape the mixture into a medium bowl. Add the remaining 2 Tbs. oil, the broccoli, peppers and garlic to the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until they soften and begin to brown, about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup cooking water and drain the pasta. Return the pasta and reserved cooking water to the pot over low heat. Add the broccoli mixture, cooked sausage and its accumulated juices, 1/2 cup Parmesan, the lemon juice and red pepper flakes and stir vigorously until liquid is slightly thickened and saucy, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Serve the pasta with additional Parmesan for sprinkling on top. Serves 4.