Kielbasa Pepper Pasta

First real day above forty degrees. I know that sounds pathetic to anyone who doesn't live in Wisconsin, but when you've been below freezing for four months, forty degrees feels like the Bahamas. I opened the apartment window for the first time since November and let the air in and it smelled like wet pavement and thawing earth and possibility. Spring in Milwaukee is not beautiful — it is promising, which is better.

The doppelbock is done. We tapped it at the brewery and the staff tasting was very positive. Dark, malty, with a sweetness that's not sugary but warm. Like liquid bread, if bread had ambitions. The head brewer said, "This is your best yet, kid." I'm twenty-four years old and still getting called kid. I don't mind. In Wisconsin, you're "kid" until you're forty or you have kids of your own, whichever comes first.

Went to the Brewers' home opener this week. Season tickets are out of my budget but Tom's buddy from the electrical union has a pair he shares, and this year they fell on a week I was free. The game was cold — of course it was, it's April in Milwaukee — but there's something about that first game, the first beer in the stands, the first time the organ plays, that makes winter feel officially over. We lost. Naturally. But we lost in the sunshine, and that counts for something.

Cooked a massive pot of zurek this week — Polish sour rye soup with white sausage and hard-boiled eggs. It's an Easter soup traditionally, and Easter is coming up. Babcia used to start the rye starter two weeks before Easter, letting it ferment on the counter. I do the same thing now. The apartment smells like sourdough and sausage and I love it. I brought a container to work and three guys at the brewery had some and two of them asked for the recipe. I wrote it on a napkin. This is how recipes should travel — on napkins, in handwriting, with grease stains.

The guys at the brewery who tasted my zurek kept asking what else I cook with kielbasa, and honestly the answer is: this pasta. When I don’t have a rye starter fermenting on the counter and Easter is still a week out, kielbasa pepper pasta is where I land — same sausage energy, faster payoff, no napkin required (though I’ll probably write this one down on one anyway). It’s got that same warm, savory satisfaction that feels right when the window is finally open and spring is just starting to mean something.

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

12 oz penne or rotini pasta
1 lb kielbasa (smoked Polish sausage), sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and black pepper to taste
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Instructions

Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain and set aside, reserving 1/4 cup pasta water.
Brown the kielbasa. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add kielbasa slices in a single layer and cook 2—3 minutes per side until browned. Transfer to a plate.
Saute the vegetables. In the same skillet, add onion and bell peppers. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5—6 minutes until softened. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Build the sauce. Stir in the diced tomatoes, chicken broth, smoked paprika, and red pepper flakes if using. Bring to a simmer and cook 4—5 minutes until slightly thickened.
Combine. Return kielbasa to the skillet. Add the drained pasta and toss to coat, adding a splash of reserved pasta water if the sauce is too thick. Season with salt and black pepper.
Serve. Divide into bowls and top with fresh parsley. Serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Kielbasa Pepper Pasta — The Napkin Recipe That Started It All