Ingredients
- 12 oz. weight Pasta Of Your Choice (I Prefer Short Ones Like Rigatoni, Penne, Etc.)
- 4 Tbsp. Butter
- 1/2 whole Large Onion, Finely Diced
- 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
- 1 jar (15.5 Ounces) Roasted Red Peppers, Drained And Roughly Chopped
- 1 c. Vegetable Or Chicken Broth
- 1/2 tsp. Salt, More To Taste
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1/2 c. Heavy Cream (more To Taste)
- 1/2 c. Parmesan Shavings (more For Serving)
- Finely Minced Parsley
- Chopped Fresh Basil (if You Have It!)
Directions
- Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions.
Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions and garlic and saute for 2 to 3 minutes or until starting to soften. Add the chopped red peppers and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until hot.
Remove the skillet from the heat. Carefully transfer the contents of the skillet to a food processor or blender. Place on the lid and puree the pepper mixture until totally blended (there will still be some texture to the peppers.)
Heat the other 2 tablespoon butter back to the skillet over medium heat. Pour the pepper puree back into the skillet. Add the broth, salt, and pepper, and stir until heated. Splash in the cream and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasonings if you need to.
Drain the pasta and add it to the skillet. Add Parmesan and parsley/basil, then stir it together to coat the pasta.
Serve in bowls with extra Parmesan and a sprinkling of parsley on top.
I made this for a quick dinner last night, so I thought I’d share it with you this morning. It’s almost identical to a recipe I posted here back in ancient times, also known as 2009, but it’s much quicker, easier, and will leave more time for you and your husband to catch up on old Season 3 episodes of 24, which have recently been playing on some cable channel without commercial interruptions.
Along those lines, I would like to say that I don’t think my central nervous system will make it to Season 4. I just don’t.
Anyway, in the old, ancient version of this pasta, I took the time to roast the red peppers myself over the stovetop burner, and I added toasted pine nuts, which added a nutty flavor and a little crunch. But last night, I had no time for roasting. I had no time for nutty crunch. I just had time to whip up a quick, easy pasta. And I just had time for Jack Bauer.
I love, love, love these things. You can find lots of different brands, lots of different sizes of jars. But jarred roasted red peppers are absolutely, positively something you should stock in your pantry or fridge if you don’t already. They’re just smashing in sauces like this one, but they’re also perfect cut into strips on a sandwich, chopped and spooned over a block of cream cheese with crackers, or just eaten on a plate for lunch with a pile of cottage cheese.
Start by grabbing any pasta you want. I got this in the big city, and it’s part of my Different Pasta Shapes collection, which I would someday bequeath to a museum if I didn’t have big ol’ plans to eat it all.
Pasta. It is everything.
Throw it into salted boiling water and cook it till it’s al dente.
Then chop up an onion…
And mince up some garlic.
Then pile some roasted red peppers onto the cutting board…
And give ’em a rough chop.
Next, grab a couple of tablespoons of glorious, flavorful butter…
Then throw in the onions and garlic.
Saute them until they’re soft, about 3 to 4 minutes or so.
Next, throw in the chopped red peppers…
And cook them around for a couple of minutes, just until they’re heated through.
Transfer the mixture…
To a food processor or blender…
Then puree it until it’s all…well, pureed!
Mmmm. This is divine right here. And even though it’s totally pureed, it’ll still have a great texture to it. Yum!
Now, back to the skillet: Heat another couple tablespoons of butter…
Then pour the pureed pepper right in.
Turn on the heat and start to heat up the puree…
Then pour in some vegetable or chicken broth to thin it a bit.
Then stir it all around.
Add some salt and pepper…
Then, my favorite part: Add in some heavy cream.
Stir it around and see what it looks like, then you can always splash in a little more cream if you want it even richer.
Next, mince up some herbs. I only had parsley, but if I’d had basil I would have gone crazy with it.
Throw it right into the sauce…
And stir it around.
Then taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper if it needs it.
Drain the pasta and throw it into the sauce…
Then in goes the Parmesan…
A little more parsley…
Then toss it all together, sprinkling in more Parmesan and/or parsley as you go!
Holy…help me Rhonda.
One of my favorite things on earth. And takes no time at all! And you can serve it with a grilled chicken breast or slice the chicken and mix it in with the sauce.
Positively scrumptious!
Here’s the handy dandy printable.
