unstuffed shells with sausage and creamy roasted red pepper vodka sauce
Up front: this dish is A Lot. Part of it’s because it came from a lot of different inspiration sources, and part of it’s because I’ve had a lot of time to think about it. But we are all A Lot at times including me and you are here and here it is!
In between TikTok Tomato Feta pasta posts, stuffed shells are also having A Moment; so apparently is roasted red pepper anything, which is why I just bought like four jumbo ones I probably didn’t need and now it’s going to be Red Pepper Week in this house. But trending or not, growing up I didn’t love stuffed shells for the same reason I’m not a huge fan of baked ziti or lasagna: cooked ricotta is gritty and, in my opinion, terrible. In deconstructing them, the cheese doesn’t need to be baked at all, and the contrast of whipped ricotta—preferably still cool from the fridge—with any kind of tomato is so satisfying. Scopa, a restaurant here in LA, specifically serves a dollop of their housemade ricotta on their creamy spicy vodka sauce, so I merged my sausage ragu and vodka sauce recipes together to create this one.
Yes, A Lot is sometimes too much. But other times A Lot is exactly how much you want.
just another saturday night at my best approximation of a restaurant
This is maybe the longest-named recipe on here with one of my lengthier ingredient lists, but it’s definitely not the hardest. It involves a couple of simple, low-key prep steps: whipping the ricotta to make it silky (for which I use this ridiculous but incredible stick blender), then roasting the red pepper halves on a sheet, pureeing them (for which I rinse and re-use the same stick blender). Once that’s done, you follow the basic sauce principles: sauteing garlic and sausage—can really be any kind of sausage, including meatless, but I stuck to a classic hot Italian pork here—and shallot and some tomato paste, pouring in your ho-made pepper puree, and then simmering it all together bolognese-style for awhile to burnish and thicken before adding vodka, cream, and shredded basil.
As far as I can tell, this recipe has never before existed on the internet, making it a true original for once. Welcome to the world lil guy! It’s a weird place, you’ll fit right in.
enlarged 2 show texture!
RECIPE
Inspired by classic stuffed shells but fully deconstructed and 100x zestier, these un-stuffed shells in red pepper vodka sauce feature jumbo shells in a rich and creamy roasted pepper sauce, studded with spicy sausage and served over fluffy whipped ricotta.
Effortful time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 30 minutes or so
Serves about 4, maybe 6 with a big green salad
YOU NEED
For the sauce — you can also skip this entire step and make my jarred red pepper vodka sauce here!
2 large red bell peppers
2 tbsp. olive oil, divided (1 tbsp. for the peppers, the other for the sausage)
1/4 cup vegetable broth, I used better than bouillon
1 lb. hot or mild Italian pork sausage, removed from the casing
1 medium shallot, chopped
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 cup vodka
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 tsp. of calabrian chiles; you can also use aleppo pepper or red chile flakes—totally optional
1/4 cup of heavy cream
Salt and black pepper, to taste
To assemble
12 oz conchiglione / jumbo shell pasta, I found Seggiano brand at Whole Foods
8 oz / 1 cup high quality ricotta cheese, I like Bellwether Farms best—look for one that lists only milk and salt as ingredients for the best flavor
Small bunch of fresh basil, cut in ribbons, for serving
MAKE IT
Char your peppers. Preheat the broiler to high for 10 minutes. Cut your peppers in half and take out the seeds and stems. (yes, I know.) Spray or rub the peppers with 1 tbsp. of olive oil on all sides and lay on a baking sheet, skin side up. Put under the broiler for 20 minutes or until the skins are COMPLETELY black.
Whip your ricotta. While the peppers roast, spoon the ricotta into either a food processor, blender, or a bowl you can stick an immersion blender into and blend it just until fluffy, maybe 20 seconds. I slightly over-blended the one photographed.
Peel your peppers. Remove the peppers from the oven, wrap them in foil, and leave them alone 10 minutes to steam. Let cool, and then peel the skins off with your fingers. It won’t take much effort.
Blend your sauce. If you have an immersion blender, put your peppers in a small blender-safe vessel, add your vegetable broth, and blend until smooth. Otherwise, do this in a food processor.
Cook your aromatics and sausage. Over on the stove in a sauté pan, heat the other 1 tbsp. of oil on medium-high until shimmering, then add the chopped shallot to the pan and cook until just beginning to soften, about 4 minutes. Add the sausage and cook, breaking up as you go (I like a spatula for this—more leverage), until no longer pink—about 6 minutes. Scoot a small space in the pan; oil should pool there naturally. Add the garlic and let fry for 30 seconds before stirring together with the sausage and shallot. Lower the heat to medium-low. Spoon in the tomato paste and stir to mix well. Cook until beginning to caramelize, about a minute.
Deglaze with vodka and build your sauce. Lower the heat to low and deglaze with the vodka, scraping up any bits. Add the chiles and smoked paprika, then pour in the roasted red pepper puree. Simmer this for at least 15 minutes, or until the sauce begins to thicken and get burnished. I turned mine down to ultra low and let it hang out there for close to 40 minutes, but only because I forgot to boil water. It’s forgiving!
Cook your pasta. Jumbo shells overcook easily; cook 2 minutes less than the package directions.
Finish your sauce with cream. When the pasta is done, add the cream to the sauce and stir to fully combine. Then spoon the shells over into the skillet, keeping the water that gets stuck in them—this helps gloss the sauce. Simmer this for a minute to let everything marry.
Serve it up. Dollop a little bit of the whipped ricotta onto the shells and scatter basil on top. Plate by spreading ricotta on the bottom, then shells, then more basil. Demolition has never been so sexy.