This purple pepper pasta sauce is one in every of my favourite do-it-yourself recipes filled with candy and smoky grilled piquillo peppers, onion, garlic, and herbs. Serve this simple pasta sauce tossed with fettuccine, spinach, and feta cheese for a fast, satisfying vegetarian dinner!
Occasionally, I like to interrupt up a stint of meaty pasta sauces like my family-favorite do-it-yourself Bolognese and sluggish cooker spaghetti sauce with a recent and simple, vegetarian quantity. This purple pepper sauce with pasta by no means disappoints.
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This recipe blends the flavors of Macedonia (actually) into one deliciously gentle and creamy purple pepper pasta sauce. It’s so easy. I take a jar of my favourite delicate piquillo peppers and blitz them with seasoned sautéed onions, garlic, and olive oil. The result’s a silky, flavor-packed sauce that I instantly toss with sautéed spinach, then feta, and at last, fettuccine pasta. HOLY MOLY. Let’s simply say, it’s a really silent dinner. Not as a result of we’ve got nothing to say, however as a result of nobody desires to come back up for air!
What Makes This Purple Pepper Pasta Sauce So NiceÂ
- Recent Mediterranean flavors. This purple pepper sauce is creamy and garlicky, and somewhat smoky from candy however delicate jarred peppers. As soon as I wilted in some recent child spinach and sprinkled over salty feta, it instantly jogged my memory of Macedonia. From shakshuka to sausage and peppers and chopped salad, Macedonians are at all times discovering a technique to work peppers and feta right into a recipe!
- Prepared in underneath half-hour. My purple pepper pasta sauce has a super-quick 15-minute cooking time. With somewhat little bit of prep in and round that, the entire recipe takes about half-hour. It’s a simple meatless meal, good for weeknights.
- Versatile. This wealthy purple pepper pasta sauce tastes scrumptious on any pasta. I add spinach and feta to maintain issues vegetarian (it’s one in every of my favourite simple Meatless Monday meals). On different days, I’ll whip up a batch of air fryer meatballs to toss within the sauce when serving. It’s tremendous versatile!
Sauce Substances
These are the substances you’ll have to make this gentle, simple, and flavorful purple pepper sauce pasta. You’ll want to scroll all the way down to the recipe card after the submit for the complete checklist and printable recipe particulars.
- Purple Peppers – I like making this sauce with grilled piquillo peppers, that are marinated purple peppers with a candy, smoky taste. I merely drain off the oil and mix them up.Â
- Olive Oil – Additional virgin olive oil or one other high quality cooking oil.
- Yellow Onion – Or shallot, thinly sliced.
- Garlic – In pasta recipes, in my eyes, the extra recent garlic, the higher! Be at liberty to adapt the quantity of garlic to style. If you happen to don’t have garlic cloves to mince, you’ll be able to substitute ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder per clove.
- Thyme – You should use dried or recent thyme in case you have it (you’ll have to triple the quantity when you’re utilizing recent). Different herbs like basil, oregano, and rosemary additionally go properly with this sauce, or you need to use a mixture of herbs, like Italian seasoning.
For Serving
- Pasta – You should use any pasta you want. I like serving this purple pepper pasta sauce over fettuccine. Different good choices are linguine, spaghetti, penne, rigatoni, fusilli, or bowtie pasta.
- Child Spinach – Recent or frozen child spinach is an effective way so as to add greens. There’s no have to thaw frozen spinach first, you’ll be able to sauté it as-is.
- Feta Cheese – Rounding out the Mediterranean-inspired flavors is creamy, crumbly feta. You too can end this purple pepper pasta with goat cheese or freshly grated parmesan.
Use Roasted Purple Peppers
If I’m making a batch of Macedonian ajvar (purple pepper relish), I’ll roast a double batch of recent purple peppers and use the leftovers for this pasta sauce! Professional tip: The ready relish additionally makes an excellent base for this sauce.Â
Methods to Make Purple Pepper Pasta Sauce
Like my spinach fettuccine and sun-dried tomato pasta, this purple pepper sauce is a speedy vegetarian recipe with little or no hands-on time. For now, set the drained piquillo peppers apart within the blender. In the meantime, get your alternative of pasta boiling in line with the package deal instructions and observe these steps to make your sauce:
- Sauté the onions. In a skillet, season the onions and garlic with thyme, salt, and pepper, and sauté in olive oil till softened.
- Mix the sauce. Add the onions and garlic to the blender with the peppers. Pour in somewhat water, and mix till you attain your required consistency.Â
To Serve
Along with your purple pepper sauce blended, you’ll be able to retailer it for later (see the storing part additional on for particulars). Or, flip it into dinner with a few of my favourite simple substances:
- Put all of it collectively. Wilt the spinach in your skillet from earlier, then add the cooked pasta and crumble within the feta cheese. Lastly, spoon the purple pepper sauce into the skillet (add as a lot as you’d like) and toss every thing collectively to coat.
Ideas and Variations
- Salt and save the pasta water. This can be a useful trick when cooking pasta and sauces. Season the pasta water with a few heaping spoonfuls of salt earlier than you add the pasta. Afterward, reserve a cup of starchy pasta water, simply in case. It’s an effective way to skinny out the sauce (if wanted) whereas making it smoother and extra flavorful.
- Modify the consistency. If, after mixing, the sauce is just too chunky in your liking, you’ll be able to add somewhat extra water, pasta water, or olive oil and mix once more to skinny it out. If it’s worthwhile to thicken up purple pepper sauce that’s too skinny, your finest guess is to simmer it in a pan over low warmth in order that it reduces.
- Make it creamy. For a creamy purple pepper pasta sauce, mix in heavy cream or cream cheese to style. You too can combine in somewhat béchamel sauce.
- Extra add-ins. As a substitute of seasoning with salt, prepare dinner an anchovy alongside the onions to mix up into the sauce for a pleasant trace of umami. You too can sauté add-ins like olives, capers, and sun-dried tomatoes with the spinach to stir in on the finish.
Methods to Retailer, Reheat, and Freeze
- Refrigerate. If you happen to’re not utilizing the purple pepper sauce straight away, switch it from the blender to an hermetic container. Retailer leftovers within the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Reheat. Heat the sauce (with or with out pasta) in a saucepan on the stovetop till it’s scorching all through. You too can use the microwave.
- Freeze. Freeze leftover purple pepper sauce by itself, with out the pasta, for as much as 3 months. Thaw the sauce within the fridge earlier than reheating.
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Boil the pasta. Cook dinner pasta in line with the instructions on the package deal.
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Sauté. Place drained piquillo peppers in a blender and put aside. In the meantime, warmth 2 tablespoons additional virgin olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Add sliced onions, smashed garlic, thyme, salt, and floor pepper. Cook dinner for 4 minutes, stirring regularly, till tender.
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Mix. Take away from the warmth and switch the onion combination to the blender with the peppers. Add water and mix till utterly easy. If too thick, add a tablespoon or two of additional virgin olive oil or water and proceed to mix till the specified consistency is reached. Style for seasonings and regulate accordingly, then put aside.
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Cook dinner the spinach. Warmth the remaining additional virgin olive oil in a skillet. Add spinach and prepare dinner for two minutes, or till wilted.
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Put all of it collectively. Drain the cooked pasta and add it to the skillet with the spinach. Stir in feta cheese, and add as a lot pepper sauce as you want. Toss round to mix, then take away from warmth and serve.
Serving: 1cup | Energy: 391kcal | Carbohydrates: 50g | Protein: 13g | Fats: 15g | Saturated Fats: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fats: 2g | Monounsaturated Fats: 7g | Trans Fats: 0.03g | Ldl cholesterol: 70mg | Sodium: 513mg | Potassium: 352mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 3503IU | Vitamin C: 52mg | Calcium: 184mg | Iron: 4mg
Dietary information is an estimate and supplied as courtesy. Values could differ in line with the substances and instruments used. Please use your most popular dietary calculator for extra detailed information.
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