Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
This Roasted Red Pepper Pasta is a hearty vegetarian meal made with chickpea pasta, veggies and goat cheese tossed in an easy roasted red pepper pasta sauce! It’s an easy gluten-free dinner that’s ready in 30 minutes!
My husband’s grandmother was from Italy, and I’ve heard many stories about her famous Sunday dinners. She would always make pasta with some broiled meat and homemade focaccia bread, and everyone in his family talks about how wonderful it was to this day.
Sadly his grandmother passed away before I met my husband, so I never got to meet her or experience her wonderful cooking.
My husband always says that if he could choose one meal to have again, it would be his grandmother’s famous Sunday dinner.
I sure wish I could taste it too.
Not surprisingly, pasta is often served over the holidays and get-togethers for my husband’s side of the family to carry on his grandmother’s tradition.
While pasta was never part of the holiday table when I was growing up, I’ve grown to love it. Whether the sauce is a homemade marinara sauce or basil pesto sauce, it’s always festive, comforting and delicious.
I’m thrilled to share this Roasted Red Pepper Pasta with you today because it’s great for weeknights and it’s holiday-worthy.
Last year for Christmas I served my Sausage Red Pepper Pasta and it was a huge hit. While that roasted red pepper sauce contained a small amount of cream, I wanted to do a healthier take on that sauce without skimping on flavor.
I chose to make this Roasted Red Pepper Pasta recipe meatless, and believe me…you won’t miss the meat! The Chickapea Pasta is so hearty and it’s packed with veggies to make it extra satisfying.
Stir in some creamy goat cheese and top it with toasted walnuts and it’s absolutely sublime.
Recipe notes
- Pro tip: Prepare the sauce up to 2 days in advance or freeze until ready to use.
- Total time above includes making homemade roasted red peppers. If you use a jar instead, you’ll save about 10 minutes.
- This meal is customizable — use whatever veggies or greens you have on hand.
- Not into goat cheese? Substitute with feta or parmesan.
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Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
Ingredients
- 4 medium red bell peppers sides cut from top to bottom, core discarded or (1) 16 ounce jar roasted red peppers, chopped and drained
- 2 tablespoons (30 mL) extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 1 small onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon (5 mL) smoked paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 mL) cayenne pepper
- 1 cup (240 mL) vegetable broth
- 1 teaspoon (5 mL) kosher salt
- 8 ounces (230 grams) cremini mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
- 3 cups (70 grams) baby spinach
- pinch salt
- 8 ounces (227 grams) package Chickapea Pasta (I used spirals)
- 2 ounces (56 grams) goat cheese
- 1/3 cup (50 grams) toasted walnut pieces
Instructions
- Preheat the broiler. Place the red bell pepper cut side down a large rimmed baking sheet. Broil for 10-15 minutes or until the skin is well-charred. Check the peppers after about 8 minutes and rotate if some are charring faster than others.4 medium red bell peppers
- Place the peppers in a bowl and cover for 5 minutes. Once cool enough to handle, remove from the bowl and peel off the blackened skin. Coarsely chop — you will have about 2 cups of roasted bell peppers.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the garlic, smoked paprika cayenne pepper and saute for 30 seconds.2 tablespoons (30 mL) extra virgin olive oil, divided, 1 small onion, 3 cloves garlic, 1 teaspoon (5 mL) smoked paprika, 1/4 teaspoon (1.25 mL) cayenne pepper
- Add the vegetable stock, 1 1/2 cups of the roasted red bell peppers (reserving half a cup) and kosher salt and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir well and simmer for 5 minutes.1 cup (240 mL) vegetable broth, 1 teaspoon (5 mL) kosher salt
- Place the mixture into a blender and place the lid on without the insert in order to release steam. Process until smooth and set aside.
- Wipe out the skillet and heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms have softened. Add the reserved 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, spinach and pinch salt and cook 2-3 minutes longer or until wilted.8 ounces (230 grams) cremini mushrooms, stemmed and sliced, 3 cups (70 grams) baby spinach, pinch salt
- Cook the pasta according to package instructions, reserving about 1/4 cup of cooking liquid. Drain the pasta well and add to the skillet with the mushroom mixture. Stir in enough of the reserved pasta water to coat the pasta, then add the desired amount of sauce (you’ll have some leftover). Heat on low until warm if necessary.8 ounces (227 grams) package Chickapea Pasta (I used spirals)
- Remove from heat and stir in the goat cheese. Serve topped with toasted walnuts and enjoy!2 ounces (56 grams) goat cheese, 1/3 cup (50 grams) toasted walnut pieces
Video
Notes
- Pro tip: Prepare the sauce up to 2 days in advance or freeze until ready to use.
- Total time above includes making homemade roasted red peppers. If you use a jar instead, you’ll save about 10 minutes.
- This meal is customizable — use whatever veggies or greens you have on hand.
- Not into goat cheese? Substitute with feta or parmesan.
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
35 Comments on “Roasted Red Pepper Pasta”
This recipe looks insanely delicious. Red peppers are one of my favorite veggies, I buy them every week for salad and tacos. Now I get to buy them for this recipe too! Yay!
I’m not a huge fan of goat cheese, but I figure if I keep trying it, I’ll eventually love and crave it. That’s how life works, right? 🙂
I can’t wait to try this!!!
Thanks Christina! The goat cheese can be easily subbed with parmesan which is always a hit right? 🙂
Another weeknight win! I made your cheesy broccoli and chickpea casserole the other night and it was a hit all around. I just know this one will get gobbled up too!! Keep ’em coming!!
Oh I’m so glad to hear that you loved the rice casserole — thank you for letting me know Katherine! Meals like this are what it’s all about for me so I’ll definitely keep ’em coming. 🙂
Marcie, you’re killing me right now :). This pasta has all my favorite things in life! I’m absolutely going to make this for dinner soon.
I’m glad to hear you love these ingredients as much as I do! Thanks Kelsie!