Creamy roasted red pepper pasta sauce
20 min · 10 g protein · 120 cals / serving
A silky, sunset-orange sauce of sweet roasted red peppers blended with garlic, smoked paprika and parmesan, made rich and velvety with cottage cheese instead of cream. It tastes smoky, sweet and savoury, coats every piece of pasta, and comes together in the time it takes the water to boil.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tsp olive oil
- 2 shallots, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 tsp paprika, smoked
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 large jar (24 oz / 680 g), drained (450 g) roasted red peppers
- 1 cup cottage cheese (1%)
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan, or a vegetarian hard cheese; plus more to serve
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
To serve
- a handful fresh basil, torn
Steps
- Warm the oil in a pan over medium heat and soften the shallots for 4–5 minutes. Add the garlic, smoked paprika and pepper flakes and stir for 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Tip everything into a blender with the roasted peppers, cottage cheese, parmesan, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and blend until completely smooth and silky, 1–2 minutes.
- Pour the sauce back into the pan and warm it gently over low heat, without boiling, for 3–4 minutes. Toss with hot pasta, loosening it with a little of the pasta cooking water, and finish with the basil and a little extra parmesan.
Good to know
Will it taste of cottage cheese?
No. Blended until smooth with the peppers and parmesan, it turns into a creamy, mild base, like a lighter ricotta. Blend it for the full 1–2 minutes so there are no curds left.
Why not boil it?
Boiling can make the cheese grainy. Warm it gently; the heat of the pasta does the rest.
Roast my own peppers?
Char 4 large red peppers under the grill or over a gas flame until black all over, steam them in a covered bowl for 10 minutes, then peel and seed them. They give a deeper, smokier sauce.
Per
- Calories
- 61
- Protein
- (34%)
- 5 g
- Fat
- (34%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (32%)
- 5 g
- of which sugar
- 3 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 1,111 mg
More sauces & dressings
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 479 kcal goes into the pot and 796 g of ingredients comes out as about 780 g of food: 61 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.