roasted red peppers | Relish Food & Life with Jill

Wow, we have had some gorgeous days here in the Midwest. It has been in the 60′s for the past 4 days.I have been taking advantage of the nice weather with taking a walk, grilling, washing my car and my favorite…putting my top down on my car I am getting Spring Fever really bad!

I planned out some meals this morning and hit the grocery to stock up on the ingredients. Tonight I made a recipe that I had saved on my recipe box on Epicurious.com, Pasta with Spicy Sun-Dried -Tomato Cream Sauce. I changed it up a bit. My version is below.

Penne with Spicy Sun-Dried Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup julienne sun-dried tomatoes (not oil packed)
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup half and half
1 12 ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained, chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1 pound whole grain penne pasta – I thought I would make it a little healthy with the whole grain;)
1 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; saute 1 minute. Add tomatoes and peppers; saute a few minutes. Add crushed red pepper and creams simmer over medium heat 2 minutes. Stir in 3/4 cup basil and 1 cup cheese; simmer 2 minute longer. Season with salt and pepper. You can keep this on low if your pasta is not done.

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Put pasta into a serving dish. Add sauce and toss around. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and basil.

Note: Kate and I decided that this would also be yummy with cooked chicken or shrimp added.

Ingredient Line up minus the half and half. I tend to make decisions to add or change things while cooking the recipe

I got all the chopping done ahead of time and had Mark grate the cheese while I started cooking. The jar of peppers I had on hand were mixed red, yellow and orange.