Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

Have you been to Pizza Pie Cafe?  If you have, have you tried their red pepper pasta sauce?  Oh my, it is divine.  I crave that stuff.  Unfortunately, the pizza at Pizza Pie Cafe is a little advanced for Lance's tastes, so I don't get to eat there very often.

Lucky for me, Lance likes this dish!  So, instead of spending $18 for Lance and I to go to Pizza Pie Cafe for me to get that pasta, I can make this.  This isn't as good, I'll admit, but it works.

3-4 roasted red bell peppers (you can use the ones that come in a jar, or you can roast your own)
2 Tb olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tb red pepper flakes (adjust to taste, I like it SPICY)
1/4 c chicken broth
1/2 c heavy cream
fresh Parmesan (NOT the crappy kind in a can, we want the fresh kind, that you will grate yourself)
1 lb pasta, any kind will do
salt, salt, salt

So, how do you roast bell peppers?  I put them under the broiler for 20-30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes.  I want all sides to be burnt black. After they're nice and black, place in a plastic zip lock bag and put in the fridge for about 10 minutes.

Then you'll want to take them out of the fridge and peel off the blackened skin.  I love that part.  Then you of course clean out the seeds and membranes. Voila!

And now, the recipe:

Cook pasta!

Meanwhile, put olive oil in a pan over medium heat.  Add onions and garlic and cook until soft.  Add chicken broth and cook until heated.  Put garlic-onion mixture in the blender with the chopped roasted red peppers.

I do this because Lance doesn't like onion chunks.  Therefore, you blend the heck out of it, until there are no more onion chunks.  If you don't mind chunks, then you could just blend the peppers.  Or the peppers and the chicken broth.  My blender sucks. If I don't have a certain amount of liquid in it, it won't blend.  So.... yeah.  Adjust the blending to your desire, or your blender's desire.

Put red pepper mixture back into pan over medium eat, add salt.  Salt, salt, salt.  It will need salt.  Also add the red pepper flakes, and the 1/2 cup cream.  Cook until warm, or hot, or whatever temperature you prefer. Give it a taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.  Add cooked pasta, stir together.  MMMMM.

Grate some fresh Parm on top of each serving.   You could also add fresh parsley or basil, but I'm not a fan of either of those.  Maybe cilantro would be good.... I'll have to try that next time.