Italians rarely get tired of a good tomato sauce, but when they do they often resort to a tomato sauce variation. This recipe is based on the simple addition of roasted bell peppers, and of chili for some heat. The resulting sauce is great on pasta, but it also doubles as a tasty dip for toasted bread. The peppers are sliced, roasted in olive oil and then added to a tomato base. If the skins are unwanted or if a smoother texture is desired, the cooked peppers can be strained in a food mill.
Bell Pepper Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 2 small bell peppers, red or yellow (seeded and sliced)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- half of a fresh chili (minced) or 1 teaspoon of chili flakes
- 140 g dried pasta (e.g.: farfalle, fusilli, rigatoni)
- a sprinkle of Parmigiano (freshly grated, optional)
- salt
Preparation
- In a non-stick pan, roast the pepper in olive oil along with the fresh chili (if using it) for 5 minutes at high.
- Lower the heat, add the chili flakes (if using them) and cook for 15 minutes covered, adjust the salt.
- Strain the peppers in a food mill.
- Collect the pulp and discard the skins.
- Put the pepper purée back in the non-stick pan and add the tomato sauce.
- Cook for another 5 minutes to blend the flavors.
- Meanwhile, boil the pasta in salty water for the time indicated on the box.
- When the pasta is ready, drain it and serve it with the sauce and a sprinkle of grated Parmigiano (optional).
© Paolo Rigiroli
What a great looking food mill! Is it very common for Italians to have a food mill at home? I think tomato sauce for Italians are like soy sauce or miso for Japanese. Or maybe as a dish, it has to be miso soup. We drink it EVERY SINGLE DAY (as long as food is Japanese). I love to try this variation of tomato sauce. Never had tried bell pepper in it. Sounds goood!!!
Hi Nami, I don't know how common a food mill is in Italian families, my mom has one and she uses it more to strain vegetables soups than tomatoes or other things. It's an extremely efficient way to strain, I was very happy when I finally was able to find one in Vancouver.
I didn't know miso soup was that common in Japan – all Japanese restaurants that I know have it, but they all serve pretty much the same things (sadly). Is miso soup always to start the meal?
Yay!!! Another bell peppers recipe!! I never had bell peppers sauce over pasta, but I made roasted bell peppers risotto, and it's awesome, so I'll give a try to pasta, too!
PS: I have a food mill at home, and I use it mostly to make some jam or to strain vegetables (mostly peas to make risi e bisi)… I admit it: to make soup I use mini-pimer! 🙂
Paolo, we change miso soup ingredients everyday. Sometimes tofu and seaweed (wakame), sometimes potatoes, sometimes onions and tofu…. so many varieties and my kids love miso soup so my daily miso soup has so many kinds of veggies in it. We also put pork or seafood in it too. Too bad typical Japanese restaurants here don't offer any varieties. 🙁 And we serve miso soup with meals. I just can't drink miso soup itself in the beginning of meal like Western food… so weird. I need to eat rice, main dish, and miso soup… eat alternatively. =)
Thanks Nami! I did see at least one restaurant offering different varieties of miso soup – I'm going to try them, and try having them *during* the meal 🙂 You must find it very funny that we use miso soup as a starter! It's great to be always learning.
Ohhhh yum! I love peppers! I too have a food mill like that, though I must admit I do not use it very often… but I use it to make tomato sauce from scratch in summer. 😉