Penne with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

This dish sure puts a smile on my face. Not only was it delicious the day it was made/subsequently inhaled, I also spent half of the following day eagerly anticipating eating the leftovers for lunch. It’s filling, flavorful, and frighteningly addictive.

I can tell that you’re itching to make it for yourself, so I’ll stop blabbering and get to cooking…

While you work on the other components of the recipe, cook a some penne according to the package instructions.

Look at that steam!

While that’s cooking, chop up some onion and garlic.

Quite possibly two of the world’s best ingredients.

After they’re chopped up nicely, sauté in a medium-sized pot.

It’s hard to beat the smell of cooking onions and garlic. Gets me every time.

Now, carefully roast the whole peppers over an open flame.

This part made me so nervous, but you get the hang of it quickly.

After the peppers are good and charred, zip them up in a bag and let them steam for a bit.

It makes peeling them a lot easier.

While the peppers are steaming, lightly toast some pine nuts in a skillet (which I completely forgot to take a photo of). After 5-10 minutes, remove the peppers from the bag. Peel/scrape away the charred skin and then remove the seeds.

It gets a bit messy, as you can see.

Toss the pine nuts and peppers in a blender and puree.

You may want to roughly chop the peppers beforehand, just to make the whole blending process a little easier.

Combine the pepper puree with the onions and garlic, adding a bit of heavy cream and salt.

I was heavy cream-less at the time, so I substituted ¼ cup sour cream and ¼ cup milk.

Mix in the penne and toss in a bit of chopped parsley, topping it off with some grated Parmesan cheese (which, again, I forgot to take a picture of). If you want, you can make it a meal by adding some cooked chicken as well.

All in all, this recipe is actually pretty simple, so the journey to utter culinary enlightenment and bliss isn’t that far away.

What are you waiting for?! Time to hit the road!

Penne with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Recipe adapted from “Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce” by Pioneer Woman

Printable Recipe

3 Red Peppers

2 tablespoons Pine Nuts

2 tablespoons Olive Oil

½ medium Onion, chopped

2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped

½ cup Heavy Cream

1-2 teaspoons Salt

Freshly ground Black Pepper

Flat Leaf Parsley, finely chopped

Parmesan Cheese, shaved or grated

1 package dried Penne pasta

Cook penne according to package instructions. Set aside.

Roast peppers and then place in a Ziploc bag to allow to sweat. Peel away the charred skins, then remove seeds. Set aside.

Lightly toast pine nuts in a skillet, Set aside.

Puree peppers with pine nuts. Set aside.

In a medium pot over medium heat, sauté garlic and onions in olive oil until soft. Add pepper puree and stir to combine. Add 1-2 teaspoons salt and a little freshly ground pepper.

Pour in cream and stir. Taste, and add more salt, if needed. Add cooked penne.

Serve penne with some chopped parsley and shredded Parmesan cheese.