Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
A spicy and savory roasted red pepper pasta that uses fresh and pantry ingredients for a sauce that is so tasty and easy to make. It can be served with just your pasta of choice for a vegetarian meal, but it is also super tasty with shrimp or chicken added to the dish.
Ingredients
For the Sauce:
- 450 g large red bell peppers (2 large)
- 60 g roasted salted cashews (about ⅓ cup)
- 30 g tomato paste (about 2 tablespoons)
- 26 g olive oil (about 2 tablespoons)
- 28 g lemon juice (about 2 tablespoons)
- 2 cloves garlic ,peeled
- 6-8 basil leaves (Genovese basil)
- 1-2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
To add to the sauce:
- 500 ml pasta water (about 2 cups, can reserve more)
- ½ cup grated or shredded Parmesan cheese
Pasta
- 454 g Pasta of choice (1 pound)
- Kosher salt for the pasta water
To finish the dish:
- Radish sprouts or chopped basil
- Burrata
- Olive oil
- Parmesan shredded
Instructions
- Set a pot of water on your stove, add a few tablespoons of water. Don’t bring to a boil just yet.
- Either using your oven on broil or if you have a gas stove, char the bell peppers really well on all sides. If using your oven, place the peppers on a foil lined baking sheet, and watch closely, turning as the tops char. If using gas stove, place peppers directly on burner and turn as they char, making sure you get the tops and bottoms charred as well.
- Once completely charred, place the peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap to help steam the charred peels. At this point bring your pasta water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook until al dente, according to package directions depending on what kind of pasta you use.
- While the pasta is cooking, take the peppers from the bowl and rinse under cool water while gently removing all of the charred skin. Remove the stem and seeds as well and place in a blender or food processor.
- Add the rest of the sauce ingredients to the blender or food processor. Start with one teaspoon of the red pepper flakes. Blend until smooth. Taste and if you want spicier add in the other teaspoon of red pepper flakes.
- Once the pasta is done, reserve at least 500ml, or two cups, of the salted pasta water, drain the pasta and set aside.
- Add some of the pasta water (about a quarter of it) to the sauce in the blender or food processor but not all of it. Just enough to thin the sauce, and be able to pour into a pan easily.
- Heat a large, high sided pan over medium heat and add the pasta sauce, stir until heated through then add the parmesan and more of the pasta water. You can add as much pasta water as you like depending on how thin you want the sauce. You really want it to just lightly coat the noodles, you may have sauce leftover.
- Taste and add more seasonings to the sauce if you like - more salt, lemon juice or even more red pepper flakes if you like. Once the sauce is starting to simmer add the cooked pasta.
- Stir until the pasta is coated.
- Divide pasta amongst bowls and add a drizzle of olive oil, a few radish sprouts or chopped basil, half a ball of burrata and a little more parmesan, if desired. Serve with crusty bread since its so good dipped in the sauce.
- This pasta sauce keeps well in an airtight container either in the refrigerator for a week or freezer up to three months. Thaw at room temperature before heating to use.
Notes
One of my tricks to keeping pasta from sticking once cooked and drained is pour some of the reserved pasta water over it to loosen in the colander then drain again.
I made this recipe mostly for the sauce, if you want to make it more of a complete meal you can add
You can make this sauce with broth (chicken or veg) in place of pasta water if wanting to make just the sauce to save for a later date.
This would also probably make really good soup base, again adding a few cups of broth to thin for a soup.
If it’s your first time making this recipe then make sure you read all of the information in the main post as it includes lots of additional tips, as well as the answers to some common questions.
If you have any further questions then do let me know in the comments and or email me [email protected] and I’ll do my best to help.
If you choose to make substitutions to the recipe that I have not tested yet please do so at your own risk. I cannot guarantee the same results if you change a lot of the ingredients or method. However, if any of your changes are successful I would love to hear about it and will add to my recipe notes for other readers to try as well.