Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

Creamy vegan roasted red pepper pasta for an easy, flavorful, dairy-free dinner.  I personally love roasting red peppers at home, it’s super-easy, cheaper, and I think they taste better.  Maybe I just haven’t found the right jar of peppers yet.  I have another post that might be helpful, it has step by step instructions on how to roast peppers in the oven.  If you do substitute with store-bought peppers in a jar, drain them first. You'll want about 9-10 ounces of roasted red peppers, just keep in mind that the weight on the jar includes the liquid. They are little flavored-packed gems that are a nice change from tomato sauce for this pasta sauce.  I added some cashews to make it creamy, a shallot, and garlic powder for more flavor.  Then throw in some fresh basil at the end for a nice touch of freshness and even more flavor.

How to Make Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Add all of the ingredients for the sauce to a blender and blend until the cashews and peppers are smooth and creamy.  No need to chop the shallot, just peel it, trim the root off and add it to the blender. 

I use the cooking water from the pasta to thin out the sauce.  So before you drain the pasta, scoop out a ½ cup of the cooking water.  Once the cashews have blended add the pasta water to the sauce and blend for a few seconds to combine.  Add the sauce to the cooked pasta, toss and warm to your desired temperature.  Once warmed through, serve with a sprinkle of fresh chopped basil.  

More Easy Meals

• Weeknight Pasta
• Burrito Bowl
• Vegetable Fried Rice
• Southwest One-Pot Pasta

I hope you enjoyed the recipe for roasted red pepper pasta sauce!

Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

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• Author: Allie
• Prep Time: 10 minutes (plus time to soak the cashews and roast peppers)
• Cook Time: 10 minutes
• Total Time: 20 minutes
• Yield: 3-4 servings 1x
• Diet: Vegan

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Description

Creamy vegan roasted red pepper pasta for an easy, flavorful, dairy-free dinner. 

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 8 ounces dry pasta
• ½ cup reserved pasta water

Sauce

• 2 roasted red bell peppers (9-10 oz roasted) or jarred
• ¼ cup raw cashews, soaked overnight then drained
• 1 shallot peeled, root trimmed off, and cut in half
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ½-1 teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• ¼ cup loosely packed fresh basil, roughly chopped for serving

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Instructions

1. Cook pasta according to its package instructions.  
2. While the pasta is cooking, add the roasted red peppers, cashews, shallot, lemon juice, garlic powder, ½ teaspoon salt, and black pepper to your blender.  Blend until cashews and peppers are smooth.
3. When the pasta is done cooking reserve ½ cup of pasta water.  Add the water to the red pepper sauce and blend to combine.  Taste for seasoning and add the other half of a teaspoon of salt if needed.  
4. Return the pasta back to the pot and toss with the red pepper sauce.  
5. Warm the pasta and sauce until it reaches your desired temperature.
6. Serve with chopped basil.

• Category: main course
• Method: stovetop, blender
• Cuisine: american

Keywords: how to make vegan roasted red pepper sauce