RIGATONI WITH PIZZA ACCENTS

Rigatoni with Pizza Accents image

Our family has been cooking this rigatoni for 40 years. It is a great change from the Friday night pizza, as it contains all of your favorite pizza toppings. This is a heavy recipe. A simple salad is all you need to make a complete meal.

Provided by Barb Tucker

Yield 8

Number Of Ingredients 12

Ingredients

1 (16 ounce) package rigatoni pasta
2 pounds Italian sausage
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 (14.5 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes, undrained
2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
3 ½ ounces sliced pepperoni sausage
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
½ pound diced pepperoni
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Steps:

Cook rigatoni pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente. Drain well. Set aside.
In a large skillet, fry sausage until cooked through but not brown. Add chopped onions and minced garlic. Stir and cook until soft. Add sliced mushrooms and cook about 5 minutes. Add chopped green pepper and cook slowly until soft. Drain off any excess fat.
Stir in tomatoes with juice, tomato paste, fresh basil and pepperoni. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and add cooked rigatoni noodles. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has been cooked off.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 780 calories, Carbohydrate 66.2 g, Cholesterol 87.3 mg, Fat 41.2 g, Fiber 6.7 g, Protein 37.3 g, SaturatedFat 13.9 g, Sodium 2201.4 mg, Sugar 12.7 g