Roasted Red Pepper Pasta is so creamy and delicious. You can make it with your own roasted peppers, or if you’re in a time crunch, jarred ones work as well. You can keep this recipe really simple with just a few ingredients, or if you have the time and desire, jazz it up. It can be a quick weeknight meal or something to be savored over the weekend with a nice salad, bread and something bubbly.
For this recipe of Roasted Red Pepper Pasta I used a combination of ricotta cheese and Parmesan cheese. If you like things a little tangy, I would also recommend using some goat cheese as it works really well with the roasted pepper and fresh basil. You can use 1 cup of ricotta and 2 oz. of goat cheese instead of the Parmesan. If you have the time, I do recommend making your own roasted red peppers, and when doing so, toss in ¼ or ½ of an onion to roast with it and your garlic cloves. Make sure to season them with a little olive oil and salt and pepper before roasting. Then, add them in with the peppers when you puree it. It will add a nice layer of depth to the sauce. If you want to get more vegetables into the pasta feel free to add a little roasted squash and cherry tomatoes, they taste great with the sauce.
If roasted red pepper pasta isn’t your thing, I have plenty of other recipes on my blog such as my Lemon Ricotta Pasta, Hatch Chile Pasta, easy sauce or pasta alla boscaiola.
Ingredients
- 12 oz. Bucatini, spaghetti or box of rigatoni pasta
- 1.5 cups of ricotta cheese
- ½ cup of Parmesan cheese
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- ½ lemon zest
- 3 bell peppers roasted or 12 oz. drained jar of roasted red peppers
- 1/3 cup of loosely packed basil about 6-8 good sized leaves
- 5 cloves of garlic
- ½ tsp. sea salt- more for taste
- ¼ tsp. dried parsley or 1 tsp. fresh
- ½ tsp. onion powder
- Red pepper flakes and black pepper to taste
Directions
- Slice three red bell peppers in half and remove the seeds. Lightly coat them all over with oil and a little salt and pepper. Place them on a baking sheet skin side up and bake at 450˚ F until the outside of them is nice and charred, about 20 minutes. When they are done, remove them and place inside a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap to rest for 20 more minutes. When they have cooled, remove their skin.
- Place your bell peppers inside your food processor with your basil, ricotta, Parmesan, lemon zest and dried seasonings. Purée until smooth then taste for seasoning and adjust.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, season with salt and drop your pasta and cook till al dente. Save ¼ cup of pasta water, then drain.
- Place your sauce into your hot pasta pot along with the saved pasta water and noodles and mix. I like to let it sit together for a few minutes in the sauce before I serve it. Garnish with additional chopped basil, Parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes.
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