Oh pasta…here we are again. I do post the occasional salad or appetizer, but for some reason, I always find myself sneaking back into cooking noodle based recipes. I can’t help it. It’s the Italian in me, I suppose.
Every week, my family and friends do a potluck dinner together on Wednesday’s. My friend’s uncle passed away several years ago and ever since they have had what we call “family dinner” once a week. Over the years it has grown and expanded from just their original 10 or so, to a list that includes probably 30 people.
These “family dinner’s” I think provided a great source of support for originally my friends aunt who had lost her husband, but also for all of us that may have been going through something as the years roll on.
Obviously during Covid, we had to stop these get-together’s for more than a year. I think this impacted some of us more than we thought it would. But now we are back and in full swing!
“Family dinners” usually always have a theme. We sift through the normal contenders, i.e. Italian, Mexican, BBQ, etc. But, sometimes we are able to make things a little more creative. This week the girls cooked and the following week the boys will cook.
It may sound like a boring, simple theme, but the fact that we thought of a new one after 7-8 years…I am going to think of it as a win!
I decided to make a pasta (of course). Each time I have been bringing pasta lately, I leave with no leftovers…which is always my goal. Living alone and bringing home a gigantic dish made for 10 people is the worst, especially when I am trying to eat healthy!
If you love pasta dishes, you will love this recipe. I made homemade roasted red pepper sauce for this and that added with the cheese and noodles, is something that you MUST try.
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The biggest component to make in this recipe is obviously the roasted red pepper sauce. You can either roast fresh red bell peppers in the oven or used the premade jar roasted red bell peppers. I like to use the jar because they are usually already sitting in oils, garlic, or sometime of seasoning that adds to the flavor. And honestly, it’s quicker and easier.
I personally love the Mezzetta brand of roasted red bell peppers. Fun fact that I learned on their website: Many of us think of roasted red peppers as a Mediterranean ingredient, but the peppers are actually originally from the Americas. They were brought back to Italy and Spain by the European explorers.
For this recipe, since we are making a pasta dish that serves 10-12 people, I bought two jars of the roasted red pepper. For all roasted red pepper pasta sauces the main two ingredients are roasted red peppers (I mean…obviously) and heavy cream. After that it is fun to play with different ingredients that can spice up the sauce a bit. For me that was sautéed white onions and garlic.
Start with heating up a pan at medium heat. Once hot, add 1 tablespoon of oil and 1 teaspoon of minced garlic. Stir and let sizzle for about a minute. Add the onions. I am the laziest person ever and buy already diced onions at the grocery store, so for portions, I used 10 ounces. I would say it was about the size of 1 full onion.
When cooking the onions, you do not want them to brown, just soften. So make sure to add a little bit of water, especially if you are going to walk away while they are cooking. Make sure not too add to much, as this will be put in with the sauce and will make it become runny in the end.
While this is cooking, boil your water that will cook the noodles. I used 1.5 lbs of dry pasta. You can use any noodle, but I thought rigatoni was a fun choice this time. Follow the instructions on the package – I think we all know how to make noodles by now! lol
Leave the onions cooking for about 10-15 minutes. They should be soft and a little translucent. This means that they are ready for the sauce.
The onions/garlic/olive oil mixture is ready. Add 2 jars, drained, of the roasted red peppers and the heavy cream. Now at this point, you can either use an immersion blender or even pour the mixture in a Nutribullet or other type of blender. It just needs to be mixed. However, you do that is up to you! I really like this hand-held Immersion Blender from Amazon. It has different attachments for the head, so it comes in handy for more than just sauces. I do not have a KitchenAid mixer for baking, so I sometimes use the whisk attachment for baking and frothing.
Once the noodles are done and drained, add them to a 9×13 rectangular casserole dish. Slowly add in the roasted red pepper sauce and stir. You are welcome to use a separate bowl to mix, but I find it works pretty well right in the casserole dish AND I have less dishes.
Next I mixed in a handful of red pepper flakes and the shaved parmesan cheese. I prefer shaved, but I am sure that grated would work as well. This will be baked, so the cheese will melt and soak into the sauce and noodles.
Preheat oven to 350° F and once ready, bake for 20 minutes. This will allow everything to be warmed and combined together. As a final step, add all of the mozzarella cheese to the top and throw back in for 5 minutes or until it is all melted. I like to add a little bit of basil to the top and serve immediately.
Overall, this recipe was pretty simple. I know it can be intimidating to make your own sauces, but with just a few ingredients, it is so easy and next to impossible to mess up.
It was a hit at “family dinner” this week- if any of you try it, let me know! I would love to see pictures or testimonials from you guys. Comment below or my social media information is at the top of this page!
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Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbs Rigatoni (dry) or any other style of noodle you prefer
- 1 pint Heavy Whipping Cream
- 8 oz Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
- 6 oz Shaved Parmesan Cheese or grated
- 1 pinch Roasted Red Pepper Flakes
- Basil Leaves for Garnish
For the Sauce
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Minced Garlic
- 10 oz Diced White Onion
- 30 oz Mezzetta Roasted Red Bell Peppers (drained) (two 15 oz jars)
- 1 pint Heavy Whipping Cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F
- Boil water and cook noodles according to package
- Heat up pan at medium heat
- Add olive oil and minced garlic and let sizzle for about a minute
- Add the onions. Make sure to keep a small amount of water or liquid in the pan so they do not brown- only soften. This will take 10-15 minutes or until soft. Make sure water is also evaporated, if it was added.
- Add roasted red pepper and heavy cream
- Mix with a hand-held immersion blender (or regular blender, if needed)
- When noodles are done, drain and add to 9x13 rectangular casserole dish
- Add sauce to casserole dish and mix together
- Add in slowly the parmesan cheese and mix until blended with the pasta
- Add pinch of red pepper flakes
- Bake in oven for 20 minutes
- Add mozzarella cheese to top - do not mix
- Bake for another 5 minutes
- Optional: Garnish with Basil
- Serve Immediately
2 Comments
Jamieadstories · September 9, 2021 at 6:38 pm
I have literally just cooked red peppers and pasta. This looks like a great dish to experiment with.
Jennifer Renee · October 5, 2021 at 2:32 pm
Awesome! Let me know if you try it and how it turns out!