Roasted Bell Pepper Pasta

Category: Pasta / Macaroni 
Preparation Time: 10 mins  
Cooking Time: 30-45 mins
Servings: 2-3 servings

Roasted Bell pepper Pasta

Ingredients:

• Pasta - 2 cups (I used Pipe Rigate shaped pasta)
• Small Onions - 5-6 nos, finely chopped
• Garlic - 3-4 cloves, finely chopped
• Olive Oil - 1/2-1 tbsp
• Pepper powder - to taste
• Italian seasoning - to taste
• Salt - to taste
• Sugar - a pinch (Optional)
• Cheese - as required (Optional)
• Chilly flakes - as required (Optional) (I didnt used here)
• Water - as required

For Pasta Sauce:

• Red Bell pepper / Capsicum - 1 big sized
• Tomato - 1 no (not too ripe)
• Walnuts / Almonds / Cashews - Around 1/4 cup (Here I used walnuts) 
• Garlic - 2-3 cloves
• Oil - around 1 tsp

 Method:

1. Cook pasta as per the package instructions; (Boil water; add pasta with little salt and cook for 11 -13 mins until slightly soft yet crunchy enough to bite)
   
2. Drain and rinse with cold water and keep aside. (We can also save the water to use later)
   
3. Wash the Bell pepper and tomato well and wipe off any excess moisture, coat them with oil and keep it ready
   
4. If we are having access to direct flame, we can directly roast the bell pepper and tomato in flame until they get roasted (Skin becomes black and start to peel)
5. Since I am just having electric stove here, I opted for the oven-roasting method. Pre heat oven to 350 F. Place the oil coated veggies in a foil lined baking tray and bake in the preheated oven for around 30-35 mins until it becomes roasted. We need to turn them over couple of times for even roasting. Tomato can be done earlier than the bell-pepper. Once done, take them out and placed in a bowl and cover it for sometime; so that it would be easy to peel off the skin due to condensation
   
6. Once the bell pepper and tomato cools down a bit, peel off the skin, remove the seeds from the pepper and chop them into pieces
   
7. In a pan, add few drops of oil and toast 2-3 cloves of garlic for few mins
8. In a blender, add the roasted tomato & bell pepper pieces, toasted garlic and walnuts or any other nuts (we can also leave them out if we dont want to)
9. Grind them into a puree and keep it ready
   
10. Heat Oil in a pan, add the finely chopped garlic and saute for 2-3 mins
    
11. Add the finely chopped small onion and saute for another 2-3 mins
    
12. Now add the ground puree and saute for a min
    
13. Add around 1/2 cup of water (we can also use the water used for cooking pasta), mix well and bring to boil
    
14. Add required salt, pepper powder, Italian seasoning, a pinch of sugar and mix well
    
15. Allow it to boil for 3-4 mins in low to medium flame
    
16. Add the cooked pasta into it and mix gently until the pasta gets well coated with the sauce
    
17. Check for salt and spices and adjust as required and switch it off
    
18. If making for adults, serve hot with chilli flakes sprinkled on the top
19. For kids, serve with grated cheese:)