Creamy Red Pepper Shells
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our privacy policy for details.
Crumbled Italian sausage, Parmesan, basil, and the most EPIC red pepper cream sauce! So creamy, so so good.
I’m currently taking a break from all the soups right now. At least for just a little bit.
But only because I have something else keeping me nice and cozy during this very cold winter.
That’s right. It’s this cream sauce here, but guys, this is not just any kind of cream sauce.
It’s a red pepper cream sauce! Loaded with crumbled Italian sausage (mild or spicy can be used here), plenty of freshly grated Parmesan and fresh basil leaves.
And you get to use jarred roasted red peppers, cutting the prep time in half, making this a quick 30-minute meal.
Creamy Red Pepper Shells
Ingredients
- 8 ounces medium pasta shells
- 1 (16-ounce) jar roasted red bell peppers, drained
- ¾ cup chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 12 ounces mild Italian sausage, casing removed
- ½ medium sweet onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
- ½ cup heavy cream
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Combine red bell peppers and chicken stock in blender until smooth; set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add sausage and onion, and cook, stirring frequently, until sausage is browned, about 5-7 minutes, making sure to crumble the sausage as it cooks; drain excess fat.
- Stir in garlic and Italian seasoning until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Whisk in flour until lightly browned, about 1 minute.
- Gradually whisk in red bell pepper mixture and tomato sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced and slightly thickened, about 6-8 minutes.
- Stir in pasta and heavy cream until heated through, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Stir in Parmesan until melted, about 2 minutes. Stir in basil.
- Serve immediately.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
This looks so yummy! Planning to make it this weekend. Question – any suggestions on how to make this into a baked pasta dish so I can assemble in advance and bake it off right before dinner?
What a great idea! But unfortunately, without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. But if you get a chance to try it, please let me know how it turns out! 🙂
SOOOO good! The sauce is seriously addictive, you’re right! I substituted cashew cream + vegan parmesan (lactose intolerant here, hiii) and it still turned out amazing! We doubled the recipe to freeze some for a rainy day but we’re already defrosting more almost every day, it’s that good!
We made this tonight, it’s amazing. My husband is learning to cook and found your directions easy to follow.
So delicious and simple. This has made it into my weeknight dinner rotation! Thank you so much for another great recipe.
This was absolutely delicious. My whole family loved it and everyone went back for seconds. The only change I made was to add just a little bit of red pepper flakes because we like spice. I’m not most skilled cook and I’m trying to find different recipes to add to our regular meal rotation. This one definitely made the list. Thanks for the wonderful easy to follow recipe.
Made this for dinner tonight and it is amazing. So creamy and delicious and easy to make. Will definitely be adding this to the rotation!
It’s the best! Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
Delicious, great Italian meal. Easy to cook.
oh my ever loving goodness. this was FABULOUS. One taste to check for seasoning and I nearly feel to the floor this was so good. My husband came home from eating out and STILL ate a hearty portion of this straight out of the pan. It’s a keeper!
That’s great! Happy to hear you liked it!
YUM! Creamy deliciousness right here. Only had 1/2 lb of Italian sausage and it was still delicious. This would be a great recipe to throw together with pasta shells already cooked and in the fridge. Spent some time waiting for them to boil and finish cooking. It’s comforting with a fresh flavor of basil mixed in. I will definitely be making this again!
That’s great! Thanks, Kendall!
I made it 2 days ago and still eating it. So delicious, creamy and filling. Thank you!
Omg this really IS to die for. So easy. So delicious. I’m pretty obsessed with this blog. You have yet to let me down!
Awesome, Serina! Hopefully we won’t! 🙂
This was soooo good and easy!! A hit in my house where can I get the nutrition values for these dishes?
Nutritional information is provided only for select recipes at this time. However, if it is not available for a specific recipe, we recommend using free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain such information. Hope that helps!
This recipe is AMAZING. I used hot Italian sausage. My family is obsessed with it! I’m made it once each week since you posted this! Yummm! Forget self control I’m making it again tonight LOL! 🙂
Awesome!
Oh my goodness. This is delicious!!!! My husband and my super picky daughter loved it! Thank you so much for the great recipe!
That’s great!
Wowzer! This recipe is outstanding! Soooooo delicious! I followed the recipe exactly but I used orecchiette pasta instead of shells. We felt like we were dining in a fine Italian restaurant with this recipe. What a keeper!
Happy to hear you loved it!
We’ve made this 3 times since the New Year. Nuff said. Thanks again.
Oh wow – that’s great!
This is one of the best things I’ve ever made. I’d cut back the Italian sausage to 12 oz next time. Otherwise perfection.
Followed the recipe to the letter and it was fabulous! My kids are obsessed with spaghetti but the hubby and I get so tired of the same old red sauce. This was a great change of pace and a wonderful trip to flavor town! Thank you for this recipe!
That’s great!
This was soooooo good, part of me wanted to ask the nutrition facts on it, but it’s probably best not to know haha.
Great recipe! My toddler is becoming really fussy and she absolutely loved this! I didn’t use any salt and used low-salt chicken stock instead, we both enjoyed it!
That’s awesome!
I followed the recipe exactly with two minor exceptions, I added an additional garlic clove and used Turkey Italian sausage. This was amazing! It was easy and quick, with easy to find ingredients (which is REALLY important to me) but tasted as if it simmered for hours. Great flavor.
That sounds delicious!