PEPPERS are among the most versatile summer vegetables, great to enjoy raw in pinzimonio or simply cooked as a side dish, stuffed as a hearty main course, or as a base for a delicious pasta sauce.
The Pasta Recipe with PEPPERS is an easy and quick main dish to prepare with an intense aroma.
For this recipe, you need few and simple ingredients: beautiful sweet and meaty peppers, pasta of any shape, tomato puree, anchovy fillets for an extra kick, and some basil leaves.
I chose to use caserecce because I love this pasta shape, perfect for embracing the slightly rustic pepper and tomato pulp sauce, but rigatoni, mezzi rigatoni, or penne would also work well.
Pasta with PEPPERS is a dish with an intense aroma, as simple as it is tempting, ideal when the first warm days arrive, and the desire to enjoy genuine, colorful dishes using seasonal products grows stronger.
In today’s version, I preferred to make the Peppers the complete star by adding only a few anchovy fillets and basil leaves, but you can enrich the recipe with a crunchy note from pan-toasted bacon or simply some toasted bread crumbs or tarallo.
For those who want a more velvety and enveloping sauce, I suggest blending a small portion of the peppers once cooked to obtain a delicious cream.
I leave it up to you to make this Pasta Recipe with PEPPERS different and even more delicious.
Below are other recipes for main vegetable dishes and the renowned
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 331.15 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 39.83 (g) of which sugars 5.22 (g)
- Proteins 11.36 (g)
- Fat 15.43 (g) of which saturated 1.91 (g)of which unsaturated 1.08 (g)
- Fibers 4.69 (g)
- Sodium 1,112.76 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 150 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 11 oz pasta (penne, mezze penne, fusilli)
- 9.7 oz red peppers
- 7/8 cup tomato sauce
- 9.7 oz yellow peppers
- 2 anchovies in oil
- 1 pinch sugar
- A few leaves basil
- 2.8 oz white onion
- 1.8 oz salted ricotta
- to taste salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Tools
- Pan
- Pot
Steps
First, put a pot with plenty of salted water on the stove, which you will use to cook the pasta.
Prepare the ingredients for the sauce: peel the onion and slice it thinly, wash the peppers, remove the stem, cut them in half, remove the seeds and white filaments inside, and finally, slice them into strips.
In a large pan, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add the anchovies drained from the preserving liquid, and the sliced onions. Add a couple of tablespoons of water and cook for about 10 minutes until the onion has softened.
At this point, add the peppers, another 2 tablespoons of water, and continue cooking for another 15 minutes to stew them. Add the tomato puree, a pinch of brown sugar, and a few fresh basil leaves. Stir and continue cooking with a lid for another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta and drain it al dente (about 2 minutes less than the package instructions). Pour it directly into the pan with the sauce and stir to blend the flavors.
Stir for 1 minute to bring the pasta to completion. Remove the pan from the heat, add the grated salted ricotta, a grind of pepper, and serve hot the Pasta with PEPPERS garnishing the plate with a basil leaf.
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NOTES
PASTA I used the Caserecce pasta shape, but spaghetti, penne, and tortiglioni are all forms that go wonderfully with this sauce. If you want to use fresh pasta, keep the sauce slightly more liquid and abundant.
PEPPERS There is no rule for choosing peppers, the fact of taking them of different colors depends solely on the chromaticity of the dish. Feel free to choose the type of pepper you prefer.
TOMATOES Instead of tomato puree, you can use peeled tomatoes or fresh tomatoes, provided they are nicely ripe.
AROMAS AND SPICES To make this pasta more aromatic and fragrant, I used basil leaves, which you can easily omit. If you love bold flavors, I suggest adding fresh chili to the sauce.
VARIANTS Some use cream for the preparation of this Pasta with Peppers. Personally, I do not like it because, generally, I find it tends to cover the flavors and weigh down the recipes, but feel free to use it for a softer taste.
STORAGE
Pasta with Peppers should be consumed as soon as it’s ready. If there’s any leftover, you can store it in the fridge, sealed in an airtight container for up to 2 days. It is not suitable for freezing. However, you can prepare the sauce one day in advance and store it in the fridge for up to 2 days.
