Red Pepper Sauce (fresher than roasted)

Developed Summer 2019

About 30 years ago, I first learned about spaghetti squash, and though it was fun, thought it was a horrible substitution for pasta with a traditional marinara. Everyone raved about it as a “healthier” substitute, and I thought I was crazy. Then, about 10 years ago, I had zucchini squash thinly sliced with a vegetable peeler and topped with roasted red pepper sauce and thought, “Ah, that is good and would be good with all kinds of mild squash.” 

Last summer I was inundated with squashes from my community farm share and decided to do some research on good red pepper sauces, borrowed from many, and finally settled on this. It is very forgiving and quite delicious. I’ve used it as a sauce for squash and regular pastas, drizzled on homemade hummus, as a base for red pepper soup, and with curries.  My favorite pasta with red pepper sauce combination follows the recipe. 

This recipe is very forgiving and can be modified without loss of deliciousness.

EQUIPMENT

Cutting board

Chef’s knife

Measuring cup

Zester, such as a microplane

Food Processor (or blender)

Rubber spatula or spoon

INGREDIENTS

3-4 roasted red peppers (about 2 cups) 

2-3 non-roasted jarred red peppers (about 1.5 cups)

1 fresh red pepper, seeded and cored

2T shallot or mild white onion

2 cloves garlic

1T capers

1 lemon, zest and juice

2T fresh basil or ½ T dried basil

½ t sea salt; ¼ t black pepper

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¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

 RECIPE

1.    Shake off the brine from the roasted and regular red peppers, rough chop them and toss them in the blender or food processor. (Rough chopping the ingredients helps ensure they are evenly distributed in your sauce.) 

2.    Peel and rough chop the onion and garlic then add to the peppers. 

3.    If you are using dried herbs, pulverize them by rubbing them between your palms as you add them to the peppers. This helps release their essential oils. 

4.    Add the remaining ingredients aside from the olive oil to the food processor. Blend until smooth. You may need to open the blender and scrape ingredients off the side of the container with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon.
Once the ingredients are fairly smooth, turn on the processor again and slowly blend in the olive oil.
The sauce is ready for use. It keeps well refrigerated in a tightly sealed container for 5 days or longer. 

My favorite pasta for this sauce:

Rigatoni with red pepper sauce and garlic, parsley, zucchini, mushrooms, capers, green olives, feta cheese. Any or all of these ingredients are optional; any hearty pasta will work. 

(serves 4-6 people)

·      Prepare the rigatoni as the package indicates while you make the sauce.

·      Quarter 8 oz (the standard package) of button mushrooms, cut the zucchini into ½ inch rounds and then in half-moons, mince ¼ cup of parsley leaves, and thinly slice 2-3 cloves of peeled garlic. 

·      Bring a sauté pan to temperature over medium heat. Once, it is hot, add about a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. Then pop in 2-3 thinly sliced cloves of garlic. 

·      When the garlic begins to slightly brown, add the mushrooms and zucchini, a pinch of salt, and bring the temperature to low, stirring frequently until mushrooms and zucchini are cooked, about 5 minutes. 

·      Pour about 3 cups of the roasted red pepper sauce into the pot with the veggies and increase the heat to medium. Use more sauce if you feel like you need it. Add about a tablespoon of capers and ½ cup of olives sliced in half. If they have pimento, you can leave it – that is actually red pepper. The feta cheese can be crumbled and added now which will make the sauce creamy or as a garnish later.  Allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes, then take it off the heat.