Sometimes I feel guilty about eating pasta if I’m not having any vegetables, but it makes it better when you can hide some veggies into the sauce! Summer veggie season is coming to a close so I’m visiting as many farmer’s markets as I can before they close. Roasted peppers and caramelized onions give the sauce some natural sweetness and the heavy cream makes it super unctuous and rich. This sauce is definitely addicting and so easy to make with little hands-on time required.
Ingredients
Bell peppers – I recommend using red or orange for the colors and extra sweetness. Green will be less sweet but still super tasty.
Onions – Use any you like! Once they are roasted, any onion will have a more mellow, sweet flavor. I used what I had on hand – one red and one sweet!
Heavy cream – Feel free to substitute with a non-dairy alternative.
Roasted Pepper & Caramelized Onion Pasta
Equipment
- 1 blender
Ingredients
- 3 bell peppers
- 2 onions
- 1 bulb garlic
- olive oil
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano grated
- salt
- pepper
- 1 pound pasta
Instructions
- Peel onions and cut in half. Then slice each half into large half moons about 1 inch thick. Transfer to baking sheet.
- Peel 1 bulb of garlic and transfer to baking sheet.
- Remove seeds, stems, and ribs from bell peppers and chop into ~2×2 inch pieces. Transfer to baking sheet.
- Generously drizzle vegetables with olive oil and season with plenty of salt and pepper.
- Toss vegetables to distribute oil & seasonings.
- Ensure vegetables are in one even layer on the baking sheet and then bake with convection on, if possible, at 400F for 30 minutes.
- Part way through baking, stir vegetables on sheet tray to ensure even cooking. Ensure vegetables are in a single layer again before returning to oven.
- After peppers and onions have roasted with some color and onions are frizzled and caramelized, allow to cool for 10 minutes.
- Blend onions, garlic, and peppers with 1 cup of heavy cream and Pecorino Romano.
- Cook 1 pound of pasta in heavily salted water a few minutes under suggested cook time on packaging.
- Reserve 2 cups of pasta water minimum.
- In a separate pan, add pasta sauce and par cooked pasta. Add pasta water 1/2 cup at a time until all pasta is evenly coated in the sauce.
- Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve with fresh basil and toasted pine nuts.
More pasta? Make your own Fresh Egg Pasta and have it as Anchovy Oil Pasta with Crispy Prosciutto