Italian Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

This creamy red pepper sauce from scratch makes an easy and healthy dinner. It's an alternative to regular pasta sauce without tomatoes. Double the recipe to serve a larger family or crowd.

Course Condiment, Dinner

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 40

Total Time 50

Servings cups

Calories 387kcal

Author Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN

Equipment

Blender

Ingredients

2 cups roasted red peppers or a 16-ounce jar, liquid completely drained
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 sweet onion diced
4 cloves garlic minced; more to taste
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional; more to taste
½ cup heavy cream
8 to 10 leaves fresh basil or ½ teaspoon dried
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
½ teaspoon salt more to taste
Black pepper to taste
8 ounces farfalle or other pasta of choice

Instructions

If you have not roasted the peppers, do that first. Follow the instructions in my post on making roasted red peppers or just follow along here. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil. Slice 2 large or 4 small red peppers in half lengthwise and removed the stems and seeds. Place the pepper halves cut side down on the sheet. Roast for 25-30 minutes, or until the peppers are charred. Remove from oven and transfer to a bowl covered tightly with plastic wrap for at least 10 minutes (optional, this is to make the skin easier to remove). Remove the skin and cut the peppers into strips. To save time and completely skip this step, use a 16-ounce jar of roasted peppers. Drain them completely before adding to the other ingredients.
While the peppers are roasting, warm the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the diced onion for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender. Add the minced garlic and red pepper flakes (if using) and cook for a few more minutes until fragrant. Remove from heat.
If you are making pasta to go with this recipe, boil your pot of water. Cook pasta according to package directions but reduce cooking time by a couple of minutes. Reserve a cup of pasta water before draining.
Transfer the cooked onion mixture to a high-powered blender. Add the roasted red peppers, heavy cream, basil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper. Blend until smooth, about 60 seconds. If needed, add some pasta water while blending to smooth out the sauce. If you are making this sauce in advance and didn't boil pasta, add some dashes of heavy cream if needed.
Pour the blended sauce into the pot you used to cook the pasta. Heat it over medium heat until it starts simmering. Add the cooked pasta and stir until coated. Remove from heat.
Serve with extra basil and some parmesan cheese if desired. Enjoy!

Notes

This recipe makes enough sauce to cover about 8 ounces dry pasta if you want the pasta completely smothered. It yields about 3.5 to 4 cups of sauce. You may be able to stretch it to cover 16 ounces of pasta but it won't be as smothered.
Store the sauce in the a sealed jar in the fridge for up to 5 to 7 days. You can also freeze it for 3 to 4 months. Reheat in a saucepan until warmed through, stirring frequently to prevent scorching.

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