Friday, January 25, 2013

Roasted Bell Pepper and Tomato Pasta

So my dad is not really fond of pasta and my mom likes it.  So I make pasta whenever dad is not going to be home for dinner.  That way, mom doesn't have to think too much on what to cook for the two of us. (apparently, when you're a mom, the decision on what to cook for lunch/dinner is more important than national security) Today, dad wasn't going to be home for lunch, so we decided on pasta. Of course, like everything else I cook, I had to make some for dad too, because you know, he likes being encouraging sometimes.

Anyway, so mostly I've made arrabbiata sauce which is the simplest. (will put up the recipe sometime) But few days back, sister suggested roasted bell pepper sauce and it had me intrigued.  So I looked up a couple of recipes online and wasn't quite happy with most of them.  I thought that that'll make my pasta dry.  And I like my pasta saucy.  Very, very saucy.

So, here's what I did for lunch today.

Serves 3 (very saucy sauce) or 4 (normal saucy sauce) or 5 (if you're weird and like your pasta dry)

Ingredients

1.  Red and yellow bell peppers (3 each) (you may want to try red, yellow and green bell peppers, 2 each)
2.  1/2 onion (medium) or 1 onion (small) (finely chopped)
3.  3 tomatoes (medium)
4.  6/7 garlic cloves
5.  A bunch of pine nuts
6.  Olive oil
7.  Salt, pepper, red chilli flakes (or any other seasonings you fancy)

Method

1.  Roast the tomatoes and bell peppers on the flame.  Yes, directly on the flame.  You may want to invest in a good pair of tongs before you try this or you may burn your hands. :| So yes, roast them till they smell all nice and burnt. (don't worry, you're going to peel off the skin so you won't taste the burnt thing)
Roasted Bell Peppers
This is how they'll look once they're nicely roasted.  You can now peel off the skin easily. (yeah, good idea would be to let them cool down)

Also, good idea would be to cook the pasta around this time too.

2.  First remove skin of tomatoes and blend them to a paste.  In a pan, pour some olive oil, and add onions to them.  Cook till they become translucent. To this add the tomato puree and let it simmer on low flame for like 4/5 minutes.


This smells awesome




3.  Cut medium/large pieces of the bell peppers and put them in a blender.  Add pine nuts and garlic to this.  Also add a pinch of salt.  Blend well till it becomes nice paste. 

4.  In the pan with simmering tomato sauce, add this sauce to it.  Add chilli flakes and freshly roasted pepper to it.  And salt if required. Oh, and trust me, not a good idea to sniff chilli flakes.

5.   Let it simmer for a while on low flame and serve hot with the pasta!


Saucy, saucy pasta!

This is how the final product looks like.  And it tastes wonderful.  I know it tastes wonderful because mom said so.  And mothers never lie.  And if your mother likes what you've cooked, it is a battle won in the kitchen.  She will be more trusting to let you use her kitchen.

So go ahead, make this pasta and let me know how you liked it!! :D

1 comment:

Sumita Pai said...

Well ! Must say I am rather impressed :) Refreshing read too.