Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

Large frying pan of Creamy Red Pepper Pasta, with a spoon resting in the pan.

If you feel that you’re stuck in the same groove when it comes to an easily made pasta dish, you will love this Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta. We make a vibrantly flavoured sauce by blending roasted red peppers with cream, onion, garlic, herbs and some lemon to boost the flavours. To this we add olives and finish the sauce with fresh basil and grated Parmesan cheese. It is pure comfort food, full of flavour and certain to become a family favourite.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian, Mediterranean

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 20

Total Time 40

Servings people

Calories 584kcal

Author Alexandra Cook - It's Not Complicated Recipes

Ingredients

340 g (12 ounces) dried fusilli pasta See Note 1
1 cup roasted red peppers/capsicums - roughly chopped - about two large peppers See Note 2
2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil See Note 3
1 medium brown/yellow onion – finely chopped
3 large cloves of garlic – finely chopped
2 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoon lemon juice - add to taste See Note 4
¾ cup (180 ml) heavy whipping/thickened cream See Note 5
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon red chilli pepper flakes - or to taste
½ cup (90 g) Kalamata olives - pitted and cut into three pieces
1 cup pasta water – reserve before draining pasta – you may not need to use it all See Note 6
¼ cup fresh basil leaves - finely chopped
sea salt and pepper – to taste, if necessary See Note 7
Parmesan cheese - for serving

Instructions

Put a large saucepan of water on the stove and bring to the boil. Once boiling, salt your water.
In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium and add the onion. Sauté for 5-7 minutes, or until the onion is cooked and a light golden brown.
Add the garlic and sauté for a further 1 minute.
Push the onion mix to the side to create a “hot spot” for the tomato paste, and cook this out for 2 minutes, before mixing in with the onion and garlic. Turn off the heat.
To a small food processor, add the roasted peppers/capsicums, lemon juice and onion mixture. Process until smooth.
Meanwhile, add your pasta to your boiling water, stirring regularly ensuring it does not stick together. Cook the pasta until just al dente. Reserve some pasta water.
Add the peppers/capsicum mixture back to your frying pan and turn the heat onto medium. Stir through the cream, oregano and chilli. Season with salt and pepper.
Bring the mixture to a simmer and add the olives, the cooked pasta and a little pasta water at a time to bring the sauce together.
Check that the seasoning is to your liking. Serve with chopped fresh basil and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

Notes

Pasta: I like a short pasta with this sauce such as fusilli, gemelli or penne. If using penne, I suggest penne rigate (which means “ridged”). The surface of the penne has ridges that help the sauce adhere. You could also use a long pasta such as linguine or spaghetti if you prefer.
Roasted red peppers/capsicums: I have used my homemade roasted peppers, but you can used jarred if you prefer, just be sure to drain them very well. They will be more acidic than the homemade variety so I recommend that you add the lemon juice gradually as you may not need as much. If roasting your own, you'll need two large peppers.
Tablespoon: we use a standard Australian tablespoon which is 20 ml (4 teaspoons). For readers located elsewhere in the world, please use 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon for each listed tablespoon.
Lemon juice: add to taste, depending on the acidity of your roasted peppers. As noted above, if using jarred, they will be more acidic than homemade.
Thickened cream: also known as heavy cream or whipping cream, it has a minimum milk fat content of 35%.
Pasta water: before draining the pasta, reserve 1 cup of the cooking water in case you need to thin the sauce out.
Seasoning: adjust the seasoning to your liking – we recommend using freshly ground black pepper and sea salt flakes for the best flavour. Add more red chilli pepper flakes if you like the heat.
Make this gluten-free: simply use a good quality gluten-free pasta. Gluten-free pasta absorbs more moisture than regular pasta, so you may find you need to add plenty of pasta water.
Storage: the pasta is best when eaten freshly cooked. However, if you have any leftovers, store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Reheating: the pasta can be reheated in the microwave or gently in a frying pan. You may need to add a small amount of water.
Freezing: this recipe is not suitable for freezing.

Nutrition