Recipe of the Week: Pasta ai peperoni

Peppers might not be the most common ingredient in Roman cuisine, but they’re still in season for a few more weeks so take advantage of them while you can.

Ingredients

3 large bell peppers (a mixture of red and yellow)

1 small red onion – finely diced

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup Parmigiano reggiano

1 tbsp parsley – finely chopped

1 box short pasta – fusilli or farfalle (bow ties) both work well with lots of nooks and crannies to catch the sauce

Preparation

1. Heat oven to 390 F (200 C) and turn on broiler.  Rinse peppers and place them in a large oven pan.  Cook for about 10 minutes, until the top sides are completely charred, rotate and repeat until all sides are totally blackened.

2. Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.  Peel off charred skin and scrape off any bits that remain.  Remove steams and seeds as well.

3. In a blender or with a hand mixer puree peppers.

4. Heat well salted pasta water.  Once it boils drop in the pasta, stirring for the first 30 seconds so the pieces don’t stick together.

5. In a large saucepan, saute onions with olive oil.  Once they soften add the peppers.  Simmer on medium heat until pasta is ready, adding some water from the pasta if it gets too dry.

6. Add pasta directly to pan with peppers and cook altogether for another 2 minutes.

7. Turn off heat and add cheese.  Mix well to create a creamy sauce.

8.  Serve immediately and sprinkle with parsley for some color.

Serves 4