Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

I don’t think I’ve written this one up yet, so here it is - a fun alternative to typical Italian sauces, I love making roasted red pepper sauce.  (And I can assure you, after you read the ingredients, you’ll see that it’s no less Italian than a standard marinara Sunday sauce - in fact, today is Sunday, and I’m making roasted red pepper sauce for our family dinner.)

And perhaps you’ve noticed I’m writing more often lately - instead of finding time, I’m making time.  I love writing and I love food and wine (no kidding, right?) and writing on my wine blog takes longer generally as I add a lot of philosophy to it and tasting notes, thoughts on terroir, comparison of vintages, etc. - so it takes more effort, whereas most of my recipes and food thoughts are always fresh in my mind and blogging is fun and easy!  And I like sharing my recipes with you - perhaps you’ll comment if you have any experiences with similar dishes and leave your notes, suggestions, or - if you ever try any of my recipes, will you let me know please?  I’d appreciate it so much!

Anyway, the roasted red pepper sauce is fun, and it’s versatile for most red wines, including those from Tuscany (Sangiovese), Sicily (Nero d’Avola or Nerello Mascalese), Piemonte (usually Dolcetto or Barbera), or some of the fun, earthy, fruity reds from southern France (e.g., Languedoc or Cotes du Rhone), or even some New World examples like reds from California or Chile (Cabernet/Merlot).  I like serving it with a fun shaped macaroni, usually farfalle or campanelle, but anything will do, especially penne.  Just boil the macaroni while the sauce is cooking.

For the sauce - in a medium sized pot, heat some olive oil (as nearly all of my recipes begin - heat some olive oil, it seems to be the answer to everything) - and saute a chopped onion.  Once the onion is softened, add a clove of finely chopped garlic and continue to saute.  Add a medium sized jar of red roasted peppers (believe it or not, I actually don’t know how many ounces those jars are, as I’ve never checked, but it’s not the small one that’s the size of your fist - it’s the next size up), anyway, add that and cook about 5 minutes, on low to medium heat, stirring and making sure it doesn’t burn the onions and garlic.  Add about 1 can (again, I don’t know the exact size of the can but it’s the small can) of chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Season with plenty of kosher salt and a touch of black pepper.  Finally, add a large handful of fresh basil leaves, and cook another 5 minutes or so.

Now, here’s the part where you have an option.  Do you have an immersion blender?  It’s the wand sort of thing with a fan type blade at the end, either battery or electric - you can put it in your sauces etc. and blend them that way.  So that’s what I do at this point.  If not, just transfer the sauce (be careful, it’s hot!) into a regular blender and puree it.  (And then go out and buy an immersion blender - I guarantee it will make your culinary life much easier!)

Now that the sauce is pureed, leave it/put it back in the pot and stir in some cream.  I use fat free half and half usually, but you can use regular half and half or heavy cream - just a small amount, enough to make it a little creamy and smooth, and you’ll know you added enough when the sauce turns a slightly salmon-pink color (it’s a reddish orange before the cream) after you’re stirred in the cream, so add it conservatively until you’ve got that color.  Now, heat it up again as the cream should be chilled before adding it to the sauce.  Once it’s back to a near boiling point, turn off the heat, and your macaroni should be done by now (cooked, drained, etc.) - so in a large serving bowl, combine the macaroni and enough sauce to reach all macaroni.

I like plating it on separate dishes, topping it with a little more sauce, and then a basil leaf or two and some grated cheese (for me, it’s parmigiano reggiano, but if you prefer pecorino romano or asiago, it’s your call), and that’s it.  I usually serve with a clean salad.  (Tonight’s salad is organic baby spring greens, a hint of finely chopped shallot, crumbled feta cheese, and chopped walnuts, with a balsamic vinaigrette.)  Remember, you can also add pieces of chicken breast to it if you want some lean protein.

If it sounds easy, that’s because it is.  The whole process takes me probably around 20 minutes from getting onions from my vegetable drawer to grating the cheese over the plated macaroni.  Now, go find your corkscrew, open a fun red wine, pour yourself a glass, turn on some Claudio Villa, and try this easy, healthy, delicious recipe!