Spicy spaghetti with merguez sausage

My new food find is Merguez sausage, it's a skinny lamb sausage with a mix of hot peppery spices, a north African speciality. When i bought half a kilo from the local meat market i went about discovering different ways to cook and eat these delicious sausages. One of the dishes i made was chicken legs, potatoes, merguez sausage, red onion seasoned with sea salt, black pepper, oregano, and a little orange zest sprinkled on top, all baked in the oven in one dish for 1 hour 15 mins, simple and delicious and full of flavour and juices  just waiting to be mopped up with some crusty bread.
Another dish was fried red onion, red pepper and sausage eaten all wrapped up in a warm soft tortilla, add a nice green salad and you've got an easy lunch!
On the third day ( you'd think by now i'd be sick of them but i really wasn't, when i find new food i literally eat it everyday until my next find!) i decided i wanted pasta with my sausage, so this is the recipe that was putting it self together in my mind and it turned out just as i hoped, hot and fiery.

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Spicy spaghetti with merguez sausage

1 large red pepper cut into strips

1 medium red onion, finely chopped  

1 tomatoe, peeled and diced

2 cloves of garlic,crushed

2-3 merguez sausage per person

2 tbsp passata/tomatoe puree

2 tbsp olive oil

salt

pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/3 cup of water

Spaghetti

1. Mix 1 tbsp of the olive oil into the sliced red peppers, place on a baking sheet and bake on 200f for 25 mins until the peppers are charred.

2. Add the remaining olive oil to a large cooking pan and cook the finely chopped red onions for 5 minutes on a medium heat, until softened.

3. Add the crushed garlc to the onions and continue cooking until both have turned a light golden colour. 

4. Use 2-3 merguez sausage per person and chop into bite size pieces, mix into the onions and garlic and cook until the sausage has browned. 

5. Add the passata/puree into the pan with the tomatoe and 1/cup of water with all the spices,salt and lots of pepper. Give it all a gentle stir and cover and cook on low for 30 mins.

6.After 30 minutes add the roasted red peppers ( with charred skin removed) Turn off the heat. Cook your spaghetti in slightly salted water, according to instructions.

7. Drain the spaghetti and mix into the sauce for 1 minute on a low heat.

8. Serve immediately, with an extra sprinkling of  fresh black pepper.

You can omit the chilli powder and pepper if your looking for a milder dish, or add more to spice it up as you like. I used lots of pepper and the sauce was packed with heat, perfect on a cold night.