Pasta: A Love Story.
Week nights are weird. Most of the time you’re tired and kind of want to just eat something, chill out, sit on the couch and watch a few things before you have to do it all over again the next day. I know what this feels like. And most nights cooking something even slightly labor-intensive is really daunting, but take-out also seems like a lot of work because you have to talk to someone…on the phone. And forget about driving somewhere, you JUST got home. UGH. And OMG the feeling of hungry has now turned into HANGRY (hungry + angry), and you just wanna eat something. right. this. second. When this is the case, I turn to pasta–it’s my go-to. Always and forever.
Over the years I’ve become a private master of the “15-minute pasta dish for one person.” Lemon pasta. Vegetable scrap pasta. Spaghetti with eggs and lots of black pepper. Carbonara. Butter and crushed red pepper (not all that exciting). Butter and cheese pasta (also not that exciting, but very dependable), and the list goes on and on…
If you do a small amount of planning and remember to a buy a few red peppers over the weekend, this is a new little 15-minute pasta that could enter your rotation. It’s a solid one.
Okay so I know I just sold you on “EASY,” “FAST,” and “15 Minutes Only.” But you do need to roast some red peppers.
The other alternative is that Trader Joe’s (and a lot of other supermarkets) actually carry roasted red bell peppers in the jar. Buying this will save this roasting step for you completely.
If you decide to roast them, it’s really no work at all, just a bit of oven time. An hour to be exact.
This pesto has a handful of fresh basil, a good amount of Parmesan cheese, garlic, olive oil and walnuts, though, pine nuts or almonds would be lovely too.
Things are pulsed and pureed for about a minute. This pesto is sweet and slightly smokey. The walnuts give it a good nuttiness, while the basil add freshness.
Freshness is very important when shoveling big bites of carbs into your mouth, you kno.
Toss this pasta with some warm pasta, swirl it around your fork and turn on some bad television.
You’ve earned it.
Roasted Red Pepper Pesto
2 large red bell peppers (or 1 pound of red bell peppers)
Olive Oil
2 whole garlic cloves
2 tablespoon walnuts
1/2 cup fresh basil
1/4 cup Parmesan-Reggiano, grated
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Sea salt
1. Preheat your oven to 400F. Place the red peppers on a baking sheet and sprinkle both of them with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Transfer the peppers to a hot oven and roast for 1 hour, turning them over, using tongs, at the 30 minute mark. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool to room temperature, about 15 minutes. When the peppers are cool, using a knife, remove the seeds, white membrane inside and stem. Set aside.
2. In a food processor, add the garlic cloves and walnuts; pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal. Next, throw in the roasted red peppers, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, fresh basil, Parmesan-Reggiano, crushed red pepper and pulse until mixture is smooth-ish, about 1 minute. Salt to taste (I added about 1/2 teaspoon of salt). Add a little more crushed red pepper, if you like, too.
Yields about 1 cup of pesto
found this last week (on pinterest) and made it for a quick (we really needed *quick!) lunch. SO good… as good as i hoped it would be, based on the image :).
linking on my blog tomorrow (as well as another one that I write a ‘gardening’ column for)! happy to have discovered your blog!
…and the “15 minute pasta dish for one person”?? LOVE this’ genre’ of recipes.
YES! I’m totally going to make more “fifteen minute meals for one”!
Yay!
That entire first paragraph sounds like I wrote it myself. “Hangry” is totally accurate after working all day and sitting in traffic for an hour.
I’ll probably buy roasted red peppers. thanks for understanding easy, quick, cheap and I WANT FOOD RIGHT NOW feelings. <3
Delightful! Very yummy. I used to do my peppers on the stovetop when I had a gas oven but now that I have electric, this is a great option. Thanks!
I’ve never had this type of pesto before and I’m so excited to try it!
OMG this was the greatest.
Gone are the days of Summer, when I could spend evenings and afternoons trying any recipe my tummy desired. But, even late on a Thursday night after a long day of work, this had to be tried. Super easy, super yummy. Thanks!
http://instagr.am/p/P0qH_cglca/
OMG this looks so good! Pasta is certainly a weeknight go-to in my house too……..I’m always looking for new twists!
PS – do you think an immersion blender would work in lieu of a blender in this case? I just got one as a gift and am looking for ways to give it a go (besides soup)!
xo
Nicole
Hmm. If it’s a really good immersion blender, then I’d say yes. Worse case scenario is that I’d be kind of chunky and you’d have to move it to the food processor. So yeah, give it a go! Why not.
This looks amazing and so tasty! 🙂
http://www.happypaperplace.com/
I love red pepper pesto. . .this is my kind of pasta!
could do with changing my spaghetti meal up to something more fresh. 🙂
▲▲ HYENA
This is a great looking pasta sauce. Anything that can be thrown together in a food processor is my friend. I too would roast them on a stove top burner or in the oven under the grill like the commenter above. It’s a little messy but much faster. Or of course buy them in a jar already skinned and roasted, like you said.
mmmmmmm
This sounds amazinggg!
this makes me super happy bc it’s red, but it’s not tomatoes (allergic). must make…
This pesto sounds so intense and amazing! I love it. This is exactly the kind of comforting dinner I want when I’m home alone in front of the tv. 🙂
Pasta for one. Amaze! I usually throw in tons of fresh mozzarella or Buratta to whatever pasta I am indulging in.