Pork Sausage Rigatoni in a Creamy Sauce

🥘 Ingredients

• bell pepper
  1 unit
• black pepper
  1 pinch
• butter
  1 tbsp
• chili flakes
  1 pinch
• cream cheese
  3 oz
• italian pork sausage
  10 oz
• lemon
  1 unit
• olive oil
  1 tbsp
• parmesan cheese
  ¼ cup
• rigatoni pasta
  12 oz
• salt
  1 pinch
• scallions
  3 stalks
• sour cream
  3 tbsp
• tomato
  1 unit

1. 

   1

   Wash and dry all produce. Halve, core, and thinly slice bell pepper into strips. Trim and thinly slice scallions , separating whites from greens. Dice tomato into ½-inch pieces. Zest and quarter lemon . Remove sausage from casing; discard casing.

   bell pepper: 1 unit, scallions: 3 stalks, tomato: 1 unit, lemon: 1 unit
2. 

   2

   Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper and scallion whites; cook, stirring, until slightly softened ⏱️ 4 minutes . Season with salt and black pepper .

   olive oil: 1 tbsp, salt: 1 pinch, black pepper: 1 pinch
3. 

   3

   Add italian pork sausage to pan; cook, breaking up meat into pieces, until browned and cooked through ⏱️ 5 minutes . Season with salt and pepper. If you like things spicy, stir in a pinch of chili flakes and cook until fragrant ⏱️ 15 seconds . TIP: If there’s excess grease in your pan, carefully pour it out.

   italian pork sausage: 10 oz, chili flakes: 1 pinch
4. 

   4

   Once water is boiling, add rigatoni pasta to pot. Cook until al dente ⏱️ 10 minutes . Reserve ½ cup pasta cooking water, then drain.

   rigatoni pasta: 12 oz
5. 

   5

   Add tomato to pan with sausage mixture and cook until softened ⏱️ 2 minutes . Reduce heat to medium low. Stir in cream cheese , sour cream , half the parmesan cheese (save the rest for serving), ¼ cup reserved pasta cooking water, and 1 TBSP butter until thoroughly combined. Season with salt, pepper, and lemon zest to taste. Add drained rigatoni and toss to coat. TIP: If needed, stir in more reserved pasta cooking water a splash at a time until pasta is coated in a creamy sauce.

   cream cheese: 3 oz, sour cream: 3 tbsp, parmesan cheese: ¼ cup, butter: 1 tbsp
6. 

   6

   Divide pasta between bowls. Sprinkle with scallion greens, remaining parmesan, and a pinch of chili flakes if desired. Serve with lemon wedges on the side.