Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce
Summer is here, break out the easiest pasta sauce possible for a delicious meal when the days are as hot as they are long. Just enough spice, pair this with some spicy Italian sausages fresh off the grill and a nice chillable red. I lucked out and used some tomatoes I’d grown myself and a pasta from a friend - if it’s not homegrown or handmade store-bought works just fine!
Ingredients
3 red peppers
10 oz cherry tomatoes
4-5 garlic cloves
½ white onion
olive oil
salt/pepper
onion powder
fennel seeds
paprika
red pepper flakes
merkén pepper
Prior to adding to
pasta water
Cooking Directions
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Begin by rinsing and cleaning your veggies. Slice the peppers in half and core them. Peel your garlic and put all your veggies into a large mixing bowl. Douse in a generous serving of olive oil and lots of spices and mix.
Place the veg on a foil lined baking sheet and roast in the oven for 30-40 min or until they’ve softened. I like to turn the broiler on for a minute or two to give them a little char.
Place all your veg and the roasting juices into a large saucepan. Using an immersion blender, begin to blend it all together. Don’t worry the veggies are soft enough that they will all purée together. If it’s extra chunky add an extra glug of olive oil or a little cream to help it blend.
This is the perfect time to add some salt and pepper and any additional season you might want. If you haven't added any cream/milk/mascarpone now is also the perfect time to do that.
The sauce is now good to go and can be stored in the fridge for a week or so or in the freezer. Before serving add about ⅓ c. of the water you boiled the pasta into the sauce, this will help it thicken up and coat the noodles beautifully. This sauce is especially good with spicy Italian sausages and lots and lots of shredded parmesan.
If you need a little more visual assistance check out this video!
Substitutions and Tips
You can always experiment with adding other veggies into this sauce, I especially like adding some carrots to the mix. They’re not overpowering to the roasted red peppers, carry spice well, and also enhance the vibrancy of this sauce’s color.
“But Patrick, I don’t have an immersion blender!” Never fear, a normal blender will be fine, just allow everything to cool a bit and then add it to your saucepan.
Wine Pairing
It is the season for chillable reds and this sauce is perfect for them. I would pick up something like Wildmakers Brisas de Guarilhue Cinsault. This wine has just the right amount of body to stand up to being paired with this light and peppery sauce, while providing some lovely fresh red fruit notes and some earthy funkiness. Cinsault is a varietal common in many wine making regions and is a softer mid body red with easy tannins and a bright berry note to the palate.