Simple Recipe: Sweet Red Pepper Pasta

I’m going to confess the obvious.

I’m Italian.

I love pasta.

It’s easy to cook and very easy to eat! I could probably serve it and eat it daily without tiring!

 

   

My go-to sauce is a simple, homemade recipe made from our garden tomatoes.
But when we discovered my daughter had food sensitivity, I had to come up with a non-tomato version to top our pasta dinners.
The easy alternative would have been an oil or butter sauce with grated cheese, but there were two big problems with that option.
1. Her sensitivity also required us to cut all dairy foods.
2. She constantly asked for the “red sauce!” …So this mamma had to get creative.

 

Here’s the recipe for “Red Pepper Pasta” I came up with, and it’s become one of my favorites! Some are turned off by “red pepper” sauce name, thinking it’s packing some heat. But, remember, I developed it to satisfy a two-year-old’s cravings for “red sauce,” so it’s not spicy, (although you could easily kick up the heat with a few dashes of cayenne or a chopped fresh hot pepper).

 

The sauce is yummy over any form of your favorite pasta.
To make it even more memorable, serve it over cheese tortellini – the smooth and comforting cheese filling sweetened by the fresh red pepper and garlic is a fantastic combination!

 

 

Sweet Red Pepper Pasta

Ingredients:

1 package Pasta, any kind (or tortellini – yum!)

4 Sweet Red Bell Peppers

1 Large Sweet Onion, such as Vidalia

4 Garlic Cloves

1 tsp. Oregano

1 Tbsp. Sugar

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil, plus more to liquefy sauce

1/8 tsp. ground Cayenne Pepper or 1 Hot Pepper (long hot chili, jalapeño, etc.) – Optional

Instructions:

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, heat first two Tbsp. of oil in saucepan.

Rough chop peppers and onions, and mince garlic.

Add chopped veggies to oil, and sauté until they’re tender.

Add oregano, sugar (and cayenne, if desired) and another third-cup olive oil.

Heat a minute, so flavors blend and it’s heated through. Take off heat.

Use an immersion blender to puree to a smooth consistency, adding more oil as needed. (This won’t be as smooth as a traditional red tomato sauce… it’s more like a suspension with little flecks of peppers, etc., but not chunky).

If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can carefully transfer the sauce in batches to a traditional blender, puree and return to pot.

Taste the sauce, adding salt, pepper or additional cayenne, sugar, garlic powder or oregano, as your tastes desire!

Stir cooked pasta into sauce, and serve!

 

I’d love to hear what you think of the dish, or any variations you come up with!

I hope you enjoy it!