This Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta is super quick and seriously delicious. The perfect meal to add to your family rotation dinners!
Creamy roasted red pepper pasta embodies everything a weeknight dinner should be. Simple to prep, quick to cook and packed with flavour. Follow me…
Roasted Red Peppers
I use jarred roasted red peppers for this recipe for 2 reasons:
- Convenience – I’ve really tried to make this as weeknight-friendly as possible and roasted red peppers from the jar are key.
- Brine – They usually come in a vinegary kind of brine and although I don’t pour it in the sauce, what’s left on the peppers after I drain it away actually works nicely with the creamy sauce. The sauce itself is quite rich, so just a touch of acidity cuts through quite nicely.
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
Roasted red peppers lend themselves perfectly to a pasta sauce. It makes a nice change from tomatoes AND you don’t have to cook them for a long period of time.
To kick things off, we’ll be frying some onion and garlic in a little bit of butter. From there, they’ll be blitzed together with the roasted red peppers to create the base of the sauce. This actually makes quite a pleasant pasta sauce as it is, but we’ll be sprucing it up significantly for maximum flavour.
Recipe Tip #1
If you’re struggling to get the blender going with peppers, onion, garlic and butter, just add a splash of liquid (stock, milk or even water) to get things going.
Process shots: melt butter (photo 1), fry onion and garlic (photo 2), add to blender (photo 3), blitz until smooth (photo 4).
Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
After blitzing the peppers with butter, onion and garlic, you’ll have a perfect canvas to work with. Let’s welcome our good friends cream, parmesan, parsley and smoked paprika. Oh, and pasta.
As I mentioned, you don’t need to cook the sauce for long. Just enough to melt the parmesan and bring everything together. It’ll be pretty thick already!
Recipe Tip #2
If for whatever reason the sauce does over-thicken, just toss through some of the pasta water to thin it out again. This will actually help bind and emulsify everything too.
Process shots: add blended peppers to pan (photo 1), stir in cream (photo 2), stir in parmesan, smoked paprika, parsley and seasoning (photo 3), toss in pasta (photo 4).
Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta FAQ
For this recipe, I recommend a long-cut pasta. The way the sauce oozes in and out of the pasta is truly irresistible and has to be experienced. My personal favourite is linguine, but fettuccine, tagliatelle and spaghetti work great. You can also use shortcut pasta!
Double (UK) or Heavy (US). Some recipes use half and half, but I find it thins out the sauce too much and dilutes the flavour. In any instance, just make sure your cream is at room temp so it doesn’t curdle in the sauce.
Always go freshly grated, or at least pre-grated. Stay away from the powdered stuff, it’ll turn the sauce grainy.
Yes! Especially if you’ve got some fresh peppers lurking around that need using up. Here’s what I do:
1. Place your peppers next to the live flame on the hob or under the grill.
2. Rotate it every minute or so until all sides are completely charred.
3. Place in a bowl with cling film over until completely cooled.
4. Peel away the skin.
Serving Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
This recipe will comfortably feed 4 (don’t be deceived, it’s quite rich!). If you want to add any additions to the pasta I recommend either grilled chicken or even chorizo!
It’s pretty hearty as it is, but you could consider adding:
All in all, this quick dinner is the perfect midweek meal to add some heartiness to the table. Thick and creamy yet vibrant and flavoursome, you’d be a fool to not get this foolproof dish a go.
If you like the sound of this recipe definitely make sure you check out my Roasted Red Pepper Pesto Pasta and Roasted Red Pepper Chicken!
Alrighty, let’s tuck into the full recipe shall we?!
How to make Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta (Full Recipe & Video)
Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
Equipment
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Large Deep Frying Pan & Wooden Spoon
- Large Pot & Tongs (to boil pasta)
- Food Processor or Blender (to blend peppers)
- Fine Cheese Grater
Ingredients
- 14oz / 400g Long-Cut Pasta (here I use Linguine)
- 16oz / 450g jar of Roasted Red Peppers (see notes)
- 1 tbsp Butter
- 1 medium White Onion, diced
- 2 small cloves of Garlic, finely diced
- 1 cup / 240ml cup Heavy/Double Cream, at room temp
- 1/2 cup / 40g Parmesan, finely grated (plus extra for serving)
- 1 tbsp finely diced Fresh Parsley, plus extra to serve
- 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- pinch of Chilli Flakes, to preference
- Salt & Black Pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Pop the pasta in salted boiling water and cook until al dente.
- Squeeze the brine out of the roasted red peppers and discard (don't rinse them).
- Melt the butter in a large deep pan over medium heat and fry the onion until soft and golden. Add the garlic and fry for a minute or so longer, then scrape it all into a blender with the roasted red peppers. Blend to a smooth consistency.
- Pour back into the pan and keep on a low simmer. Add in the cream and stir until completely blended, then stir in parmesan, parsley, smoked paprika and seasoning to taste.
- Use tongs to add the pasta straight from the pot and toss through the sauce until completely coated. The sauce should thicken around and cling to the pasta. If it dries out at all just toss in a splash of the leftover pasta water.
- Serve with extra parmesan and parsley and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Your Private Notes:
Nutrition
Looking for more?
You’ll find plenty more delicious comfort food like this in my Debut Cookbook ‘Comfy’
If you’re looking for more easy and delicious creamy pasta recipes then check these out too:
Creamy Pasta Recipes
- Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Pasta
- Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta
- Creamy Salmon Pasta
- Creamy Mushroom Pasta
- Cream Cheese Pasta
So much flavour! Family loved it. Thank you
Great to hear! Thanks for the review 🙂 C.
OMGosh..this is a family favorite. I made it the first time and my family raved!!! I get asked to make this recipe…LOL. Great with meatballs also. I do cook my chicken and add it to the sauce so the flavors marry and muah…fantastic!!
Ah so happy to hear this went down well, Judy! Thanks for the review 🙂 C.
I hate cooking. I was never taught and as a kid we didn’t have the money for meals that require many ingredients. When I found this recipe on your website I knew it was for me. It was so fast and easy to make but most of all it was delicious! This made my families list for sure. I also appreciate that you have some recipes that do not require meat! I love your recipes.
That’s so lovely to hear, Stephanie. Thanks so much for popping back for a review 🙂 C.
Delicious.
Thanks Linda! 🙂
I added a few things and changed a few things but it’s a great recipe super big hit at my house. I added feta instead of
Parmesan and I added the stock and the cream to the processor all at once and blended it with onions and garlic. I also used both basil and parsley which I also added to processor. Served or over fettuccine with garlic bread and it was amazing especially sopping up the sauce with the bread
That’s great to hear, Andrea! I imagine the feta and basil took this to the next level! Thanks for popping back for a review 🙂
This was absolutely delicious and easily one of my new favourites (along with your creamy salmon pasta ). I adore roasted red peppers and this makes such a nice change from using tomatoes as a base sauce. I added some chopped chorizo and chestnut mushrooms to bulk it up a bit and replaced the parsley with fresh basil as I didn’t have any fresh parsley and it was out of this world, boyfriend agreed too
Oh yummm – totally trying this with chorizo next time! Glad to hear it went down well, Ingrid! Thanks for popping back for a review 🙂
LOVED IT! I roasted fresh peppers, added a bit more garlic than 2 cloves and also added a little fresh ginger with the garlic. I only had spaghetti but next time will use linguine with this sauce, but delish none the same.
Oooo I’ll have to try it with a touch of ginger, sounds like a great addition! Glad it went down well 🙂
I love with this recipe!!! Cooked it and will be cooking again and again!! Thank you, Chris!!! Regards from Germany 🙂
So glad you love it!! Thanks for popping back and sharing your feedback 🙂
Simple to make and very delicious.
So glad it went down well, Teri! 🙂
Tasty and easy